Authentic Brands-Simon Venture to Buy Brooks Brothers for $325 Million
August 11 2020 - 11:19PM
Dow Jones News
By Soma Biswas
A venture backed by apparel-licensing firm Authentic Brands
Group LLC and mall owner Simon Property Group Inc. has agreed to
buy Brooks Brothers Inc. for $325 million.
The proposed purchase of America's oldest apparel company, which
requires bankruptcy court approval, includes a commitment to keep
125 Brooks Brothers stores open. The retailer has roughly 200
stores in North America.
Sparc Group LLC, the Authentic Brands-Simon venture, had
initially bid $305 million for Brooks Brothers. The bankrupt
retailer had selected that offer as the lead, or stalking horse,
bid for its assets at a planned bankruptcy auction.
But the deadline for rival offers passed last week, and no
auction was held.
Brand-licensing company WHP Global Inc. had also expressed
interest in purchasing Brooks Brothers but bowed out of the race
after the retailer selected Sparc as the stalking horse, The Wall
Street Journal reported Monday.
Sparc buys consumer brands, often out of bankruptcy, and revives
them by shedding unprofitable locations. It owns hundreds of
Aéropostale, Forever 21 and Nautica stores.
Brooks Brothers filed for bankruptcy last month after more than
two centuries in business, unable to withstand store closures
because of the coronavirus pandemic. The company has struggled in
recent years with a shift toward more casual dress styles at
work.
Write to Soma Biswas at soma.biswas@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 11, 2020 23:04 ET (03:04 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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