Saks Exits Bankruptcy as Exemplar, Shedding Stores and Debt
The owner of Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman exited Chapter 11 with a new name, $500 million in financing and a smaller footprint.
Saks Global walked out of bankruptcy on Friday with a new name, a smaller map and roughly three-quarters less debt. The owner of Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman will now trade as Exemplar Luxury Group, the company said as it formally exited Chapter 11.
The restructuring cut debt by nearly 75% and added $500 million in fresh financing, according to the company. It also shrank the business chief executive Geoffroy van Raemdonck has to run. Before filing, the group operated 33 Saks stores, 36 Neiman Marcus locations, the Bergdorf Goodman flagship on Fifth Avenue and roughly 70 Saks Off 5th discount outlets. It now counts 49 full-price stores, 15 Saks Fifth Avenue, 33 Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf, plus just 12 outlets.
The debt was the point of failure. Saks took on heavy borrowing to buy its luxury rival Neiman Marcus in July 2024, then filed for Chapter 11 in January of this year, squeezed by that load and by rising competition, the company has said.
"Today is really a brand new day for the organization and a new day where these three iconic banners have the right funding, the right equity and a bright future ahead of them."
Geoffroy van Raemdonck, CEO, speaking to The Associated Press
Van Raemdonck said the new name signals a focus on an exemplary shopping experience: better merchandise, more personal service and heavier use of the customer data the company holds. He pointed to a sales force of more than 1,500 associates who have each sold over $1 million in goods.
The discount arm absorbed the deepest cut. Saks Off 5th, the off-price chain that once ran to roughly 70 outlets, is down to 12, the company said, a near-elimination of the format that had been the group's hedge against shoppers trading down. What remains is a bet on the top of the market rather than the middle of it.
The new owners are the firms that steered the restructuring. Pentwater Capital Management and Bracebridge Capital will each hold two seats on a seven-person board that also includes van Raemdonck, former Ulta Beauty chief executive Dave Kimbell and Philippe Schaus, until recently the global CEO of Moet Hennessy.
For the affluent shopper, less changes than the new logo suggests. For the suppliers, landlords and thousands of sales staff tied to these names, the math is starker. A leaner Exemplar carries less debt but also fewer doors to sell through, in a luxury market where the online and discount pressure that sank the old company has not eased. The balance sheet looks healthier. Whether the business does is a question the next few quarters, not a press release, will answer.
