It’s a $uitable bid
$305M offer to buy bankrupt Brooks Bros.
A shopping-mall giant and a brand-licensing firm have offered to buy Brooks Brothers out of bankruptcy for $305 million.
Sparc Group LLC — a partnership between Authentic Brands Group and Simon Property Group, the nation’s largest mall operator — announced its bid late Thursday to acquire “substantially all” of Brooks Brothers’ global operations along with at least 125 of its retail stores. The company has more than 400 stores worldwide.
The deal is a “stalking horse” offer, meaning it will be the price for other suitors to beat in a bankruptcy auction for the 202-year-old chain. Any other bids are due by Aug. 5 and a federal judge must approve the winning offer.
The storied New Yorkbased retailer is the latest retail casualty of the coronavirus pandemic that has already forced Neiman Marcus, JCPenney, J.Crew and others into bankruptcy proceedings.
Sparc has also given Brooks Brothers an $80 million loan to support it through the Chapter 11 process, beating out a $75 million financing offer from rival branding firm WHP Global, according to the Wall Street Journal.
WHP — which owns the Anne Klein and Joseph Abboud dresswear labels — told the paper that it’s also cooking up a bid for Brooks Brothers. A third offer could come from a bloc of investors led by Giglio Group, an Italian fashion firm that would shutter all of Brooks Brothers’ stores and turn it into an online retailer, according to the Journal.
Sparc is looking to add Brooks Brothers to its portfolio, which already includes Aéropostale and Nautica stores. The company also made an offer earlier this month to buy the bankrupt Lucky Brand Dungarees retailer.
Sources told The Post that Authentic Brands Group — which partially owns Sparc — was a likely bidder for Brooks Brothers after the iconic company filed for bankruptcy on July 8, done in by the coronavirus crisis and a shift toward more casual office wear. Authentic Brands also snapped Barneys New York out of bankruptcy last year.
Founded in 1818 on the Lower East Side, Brooks Brothers boasts of having outfitted 41 of 45 US presidents. Abraham Lincoln was a loyal customer, and said to be wearing a Brooks Brothers suit on the evening he was assassinated.