Saks Global files Chapter 11 after Neiman Marcus takeover collapses

Saks Global filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston, thrusting the luxury department-store conglomerate that combined Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus into a formal court-supervised restructuring. Court papers list total assets and liabilities each in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion and identify a large unsecured creditor base estimated between 10,001 and 25,000 parties.

The filing lays bare the financial strain that accompanied the 2024 transaction that created Saks Global. That $2.7 billion deal was financed with roughly $2 billion of debt and equity contributions from outside investors, and filings name Amazon and Authentic Brands among equity backers, with Salesforce also reported as an investor. The leverage from that purchase, combined with secular shifts in luxury retail, left the company vulnerable to a rapid liquidity squeeze.

Court documents list a number of major luxury houses as sizeable unsecured creditors. Kering, the owner of Gucci, is shown at roughly $136 million, Gucci at about $60 million and LVMH at about $26 million. Those exposures underscore the ripple effects of the filing across brands that have depended on department stores as wholesale partners even as many pursue direct-to-consumer strategies.

In the weeks before the filing, Saks Global was reported to be negotiating a rescue financing package that would have provided roughly $1.75 billion of commitments, including a proposed debtor-in-possession loan intended to deliver an immediate $1 billion cash infusion. The proposed DIP lender group is identified in filings as led by Pentwater Capital Management and Bracebridge Capital. Those financing talks have now moved into the Chapter 11 process, where proposed DIP loans and exit financing typically require court approval and creditor negotiation.

Executives say the company faced structural headwinds long familiar to legacy department stores: lingering shifts in consumer behavior from in-person to online shopping, intensified competition from e-commerce, brands diverting sales to their own stores and platforms, fraying vendor relationships and weak consumer sentiment in some segments. Those factors, combined with a heavy debt load, made it difficult for Saks Global to absorb even temporary cash shortfalls.

Leadership turnover accelerated the company’s instability in January. Marc Metrick stepped down as chief executive and handed control to Richard Baker, the executive largely associated with orchestrating the 2024 merger; Baker left the CEO role within weeks. Court materials indicate Geoffroy van Raemdonck, a former Neiman Marcus chief executive, will assume the top role. The filings also note appointments of former Neiman Marcus executives to senior commercial and brand partnership positions.

The Chapter 11 filing will place Saks Global’s restructuring before a Houston bankruptcy judge and turn creditor lists and related financial schedules into public records. Chapter 11 generally permits continued operations while management seeks to renegotiate debt terms, sell assets or pursue other reorganizational options. The failure to finalize out-of-court financing meant those paths are now likely to play out under court supervision, with significant consequences for vendors, landlords, employees and investors across the luxury retail ecosystem.

Saks Global did not respond to at least one request for comment. The company’s next procedural hearings and any court rulings on DIP financing will shape whether stores can remain open uninterrupted and how losses are allocated among secured lenders, unsecured creditors and equity holders.