Luxury retailer Saks Global on Friday announced it will operate with a new name after it exited bankruptcy after cutting its store count and reducing its debt obligations.
The company – which is the parent of notable retail brands including Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman – will operate under the new name Exemplar Luxury Group (ELG) and will focus on luxury retail.
“Moving forward as Exemplar Luxury Group reflects the shared ideals that anchor each of our banners and our commitment to setting the standard of excellence for luxury retail across all three,” said CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck.
“As the gateway to the U.S. luxury customer, we are uniting coveted brands with unrivaled customer experiences to drive growth for Exemplar Luxury Group and the broader luxury ecosystem,” he added.
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The company said that the restructuring it underwent in the bankruptcy process allowed it to eliminate 75% of previous debt, while the process also wiped out its equity and reduced its store count.
It exited bankruptcy with 49 stores after closing 62 of its off-price locations, including 57 of its Saks OFF 5th and all five Neiman Marcus Last Call stores.
The company also closed 12 Saks Fifth Avenue stores in March, as well as three Neiman Marcus locations. It had entered bankruptcy with 33 Saks Fifth Avenue locations.
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During the restructuring, Saks Global ended its partnership with Amazon to sell its products on the e-commerce platform during the restructuring after facing pushback from luxury brands about selling on a mass-market site.
Saks Global’s $2.7 billion merger with Neiman Marcus in 2024, which was orchestrated by the company’s former CEO, was designed to create a luxury powerhouse but burdened Saks with debt when global luxury sales were slowing – a dynamic which complicated an already difficult turnaround.
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After it struggled with weak sales for over a year as its debt mounted, Saks filed for bankruptcy in January with $3.4 billion in debt, including over $337 million owed to critical suppliers like Chanel and Kering, the owner of Gucci.
The company received approval for a $1 billion bankruptcy loan in February and planned to use $600 million of that financing to cover vendor payments.
ELG’s new board will include two representatives each from investment firms Pentwater Capital Management and Bracebridge Capital that partnered with the company during the restructuring process.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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