A partnership between mall giant Simon Property Group and apparel licensing firm Authentic Brands has made a $305 million bid to acquire the assets and intellectual property of Brooks Brothers out of bankruptcy court, according to various media reports.
The partnership, named Sparc LLC, had provided financing to Brooks Brothers through its restructuring. It intends to keep at least 125 stores open, according to the filing as reported by CNBC.
The bid will be considered at an Aug. 3 hearing, while competing offers are due by Aug. 5, according to the filing. Another hearing on Aug. 11 will consider the final sale of Brooks Brothers’ assets.
A rival to Authentic Brands, WHP Global, also intends to make a bid for the assets, CNBC reported.
Sparc LLC also reportedly made a bid for JC Penney out of bankruptcy court, but Sycamore Partners, which acquired retail chain Belk in 2015, appears to be the leading candidate, according to the New York Post. Sycamore plans to merge the two chains, rebranding some JC Penney stores as Belk and liquidating others, the Post reported.
There was even early talk that Amazon was considering acquiring JC Penney, even reportedly visiting the company’s Plano, TX headquarters, but many observers said the move didn’t make sense for the ecommerce giant.
Brooks Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month, listing relatively low debt of $300 billion and 2019 sales of $1 billion, 25% of which came from ecommerce. At the time it secured a $75 million debtor-in-possession loan from WHP Global, according to the Wall Street Journal.