In a move to further consolidate its luxury retail market, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue has agreed to acquire Neiman Marcus in a $2.65 billion deal, creating a giant high-end department store group, two people close to the talks said on Wednesday.
The deal, which has been rumored since Neiman Marcus filed for bankruptcy protection during the pandemic, comes just over four years after Saks bought the license for Barney’s name follows the bankruptcy of that group. It also follows a wave of The failure of luxury e-tailincluding FarFetch and Matches.com. Saks is owned by HBC, a retail conglomerate. bought the American chain of stores in 2013 — the year after HBC acquired Lord & Taylor.
The acquisition of Neiman Marcus makes Saks Global, as the new group is called, the dominant player in the market, with a total of 75 stores (including two Bergdorf Goodmans) as well as 100 discount stores. The new group’s only real competitors in the United States will be Macy’s, which includes Bloomingdale’s, and Nordstrom. The group will be run by Marc Metrick, the current chief executive of Saks and Saks.com, one of the people said.
As part of the deal, Amazon will take a minority stake in Saks Global, the two people said. HBC, which also owns Canadian department store chain Hudson’s Bay, is financing the acquisition with $2 billion it has raised from existing investors. Affiliates of investment firm Apollo Global Management are providing $1.5 billion in debt.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported the deal.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
