HBC, the parent company of upscale fashion retailer Saks Fifth Avenue, announced it would acquire Dallas-based Neiman Marcus on Thursday in a sale worth $2.65 billion.
Neiman Marcus was founded in downtown Dallas in 1907 and has been a luxury fashion leader worldwide ever since, helping make North Texas an important hub for high-end apparel.
Here’s what we know so far:
The merger of New York-based Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus would create an upscale fashion retail juggernaut.
The new combined company will be called “Saks Global,” per a news release, and will also include Saks OFF 5th, the Saks sister off-price department chain, and Bergdorf Goodman, an iconic New York City department store that the owners of Neiman Marcus bought in 1972.
The combined company could see about $10 billion in annual sales, according to the Wall Street Journal, and more than 150 locations.
Amazon has a stake in the acquisition.
During the pandemic, online shopping and e-commerce thrived. Saks Fifth Avenue was quick to adapt to the new dynamic, adding virtual shopping appointments with stylists and improving the online shopping experience for customers.
That might help put in context Amazon’s stake in the sale of Neiman Marcus. Amazon will help “innovate on behalf of customers and brand partners” when the deal is closed, according to the news release.
“This is an exciting time in luxury retail, with technological advancements creating new opportunities to redefine the customer experience, and we look forward to unlocking significant value for our customers, brand partners and employees,” said Richard Baker, HBC’s CEO, in the release.
The stores will continue to operate under their own brand names
Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus will retain their respective brand names, according to the news release, but will operate under the larger “Saks Global” umbrella that will also include Bergdorf Goodman and Saks OFF 5th, as well as other Neiman Marcus brands.
The combined company will also include HBC’s U.S. real estate assets and Neiman Marcus Group’s real estate assets, per the release, creating a $7 billion portfolio of retail real estate assets in luxury shopping destinations.
Neiman Marcus climbed out of bankruptcy
The retail giant was one of the first major department stores to go into bankruptcy in May 2020, near the height of the pandemic.
Neiman Marcus CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck wrote in a letter at the time that the company would go through a financial restructuring to reduce the company’s debt load. It’s not yet clear what role van Raemdonck will have in the new Saks Global.
Department stores, in particular, have been in decline as malls shutter and online shopping thrives, among other reasons. Retail giant Macy’s, for instance, said that it would shutter nearly a third of its U.S. locations earlier this year as it fought with activist investor groups that sought to buy the company.
What is HBC, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue?
HBC is a holding company with a portfolio of businesses that include some of the biggest names in retail, according to its website.
The New York-based group is the majority shareholder of companies like Hudson’s Bay and Galeria Kaufhof, among others.
HBC also has a real estate and investments portfolio division. The company controls either entirely or with joint venture partners about 40 million square feet of gross leasable area, per the company website.
Who owned Neiman Marcus before the sale?
The Dallas-based Neiman Marcus Group has been privately held for several years and has been bought and sold multiple times by big private investors.
Before the transaction with HBC, Neiman Marcus was owned by New York-based hedge fund Davidson Kempner Capital Management, California-based investment management firm PIMCO and Sixth Street, also an investment firm.
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