Saks World, the mother or father firm behind the 159-year-old division retailer that is change into each a vacation spot and a logo for luxurious vogue, filed for Chapter 11 chapter safety on Wednesday after an unsustainable debt pile crushed its enterprise.
The corporate additionally introduced former Neiman Marcus CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck will instantly take over as chief govt, changing Richard Baker. He had been within the job for simply two weeks, however had been concerned with Saks since Hudson’s Bay acquired it in 2013 when he was CEO of the Canadian division retailer.
With van Raemdonck comes a revamped senior management workforce stacked with veterans from Neiman Marcus, which Saks World acquired in 2024. Darcy Penick, who served because the president of Bergdorf Goodman earlier than Saks purchased the division retailer, will take over as president and chief business officer for Saks World. Lana Todorovich, Neiman’s former chief merchandising officer, has been named chief of world model partnerships.
Forward of the submitting, Saks secured $1.75 billion in new financing from a gaggle of the corporate’s senior secured bondholders and asset-based lenders. The lion’s share, $1 billion, is debtor-in-possession financing that shall be used to fund operations whereas the corporate is in Chapter 11 whereas a further $500 million shall be obtainable to the corporate after it emerges from chapter, which it stated it expects to do later this 12 months. Its asset-based lenders supplied a further $240 million in incremental liquidity.
The flush of recent cash comes after Saks struggled to line up DIP financing, which shall be used to maintain the enterprise operating throughout Chapter 11 proceedings, CNBC beforehand reported. With out it, Saks confronted the prospect of liquidation, which might’ve spelled the top for one of the crucial fabled malls in historical past.
Consumers stroll exterior the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship retailer in Manhattan in New York Metropolis, U.S., Jan. 6, 2026.
Angelina Katsanis | Reuters
A chapter submitting for Saks World has been seen as inevitable for weeks after the corporate missed an curiosity cost to bondholders late final month. What remains to be unclear is what’s going to occur to the corporate and the almost 200 doorways underneath its umbrella throughout Saks’ namesake shops and its off-price chain, together with Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman.
In a information launch, the corporate stated its “evaluating its operational footprint” to place its sources the place it sees the “biggest long-term potential.” That seemingly means a trimmed down retailer fleet within the coming months to cut back the corporate’s mounted prices.
“This can be a defining second for Saks World, and the trail forward presents a significant alternative to strengthen the inspiration of our enterprise and place it for the longer term,” CEO van Raemdonck stated in a information launch.
“In shut partnership with these newly appointed leaders and our colleagues throughout the group, we are going to navigate this course of along with a continued deal with serving our prospects and luxurious manufacturers. I stay up for serving as CEO and persevering with to remodel the Firm in order that Saks World continues to play a central function in shaping the way forward for luxurious retail.”
How did Saks collapse?
Although it caters to among the wealthiest consumers on the earth, Saks has been steadily operating out of money and failing to pay a few of its payments after it acquired its longtime rival Neiman Marcus in 2024 in a $2.7 billion deal closely financed with debt.
Nonetheless, Saks was struggling to pay its distributors even earlier than it acquired Neiman. Via the acquisition, the corporate acquired a flood of recent cash that was imagined to deleverage the mixed enterprise and supply it with “important liquidity,” Saks stated on the time.
The tie-up introduced a recent slate of deep-pocketed traders from the tech world, together with Amazon and Salesforce, and was anticipated to create a luxurious division retailer powerhouse with an improved price construction and stronger negotiating energy.
As an alternative, Saks didn’t implement the turnaround traders had banked on. It briefly received higher at paying its distributors, however then moved to a 90-day cost time period, angering and pushing away manufacturers that stated the situations have been too onerous to work for his or her companies.
Quickly, it stopped paying suppliers as soon as once more, which led to each a dip in assortment and gross sales.
Within the backdrop, Saks’ debt started buying and selling beneath its face worth, elevating questions in regards to the firm’s skill to maintain operations operating and make curiosity funds to bondholders, folks conversant in the matter stated. Over the summer time, it secured $600 million in new financing and bought off key actual property property to drum up more money.
Whereas these efforts purchased the corporate a while, they in the end did not forestall a chapter submitting.
