By Suzanne Kapner, Andrew Scurria and Alexander Gladstone
The parent of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus is closing in on a bankruptcy financing package of roughly $1.25 billion, as it prepares to file for bankruptcy in the coming days, according to people familiar with the situation.
A group of bondholders led by Bracebridge Capital and Pentwater Capital is proposing a $1.25 billion debtor-in-possession loan to fund the chapter 11 proceedings, the people continued. The group expects to take control of the company, the people said. A stipulation of the bondholder-group loan is that the management team of the parent company, Saks Global, is terminated, one of them said.
The large bond fund Pacific Investment Management Company, known as Pimco, has submitted a competing offer to finance the business as a going concern through the bankruptcy process with a $1.5 billion debtor-in-possession loan, the people said. Pimco was a large owner of Neiman Marcus before it was sold to Saks in a $2.65 billion deal that closed in December 2024.
Hanging in the balance is the fate of two of America's last luxury retailers. Both more than a century old, Saks and Neiman were once a gateway for U.S. consumers to discover coveted European brands. But today, those brands have their own stores and increasingly compete directly with the department stores they supply.
Saks is considering making its chapter 11 filing in a Houston bankruptcy court as soon as Sunday, according to people familiar with the plans. The bondholder group including Bracebridge and Pentwater has explored providing $500 million or more in equity financing upon Saks's emergence from chapter 11, one of the people said.
The combination of Saks and Neiman Marcus was supposed to create a luxury powerhouse that would have more clout with suppliers. But things went wrong almost from the beginning. The company also includes Bergdorf Goodman, known as the pinnacle of luxury department-store shopping in the U.S., which Neiman acquired in the 1970s, and the Saks Off 5th discount chain.
A widespread slowdown in luxury goods that began in 2023 hurt sales. Saks struggled to pay vendors, some of whom curtailed shipments or stopped shipping goods altogether, which made it harder for Saks to bring in revenue.
Sales for the quarter ended Aug. 2 fell 13% from a year earlier to $1.6 billion, short of the company's own expectations, it reported in October. Its net loss widened to $288 million.
Saks Global missed a debt payment of more than $100 million that was due at the end of December and days later its longtime Chief Executive Marc Metrick resigned. Executive Chairman Richard Baker took over as CEO.
Saks has also been dealing with a public-relations challenge after a stylist in its Boston store was charged with fraud and larceny. An internal investigation found he had made fraudulent returns that potentially totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to a criminal complaint filed in Boston's Municipal Court. The stylist, Suhail Kwatra, denies the charges and sued Saks this week, alleging that Saks retaliated against him for getting a job offer from a rival department-store chain.
Write to Suzanne Kapner at suzanne.kapner@wsj.com and Andrew Scurria at Andrew.Scurria@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 09, 2026 10:28 ET (15:28 GMT)
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