Neiman Marcus Group filed for Chapter 11 protection on Thursday morning, ending weeks of speculation, becoming the most high-profile retail casualty of COVID-19.
With plans to re-emerge this fall, the Dallas-based company has entered into a restructuring agreement with debtors that it hopes will substantially reduce debt and position it for long-term growth post COVID-19. On emergence, the company’s planned capital structure is anticipated to have eliminated approximately $4 billion of its existing debt.
Geoffroy van Raemdonck, chairman and CEO of Neiman Marcus Group, stated, “Prior to COVID-19, Neiman Marcus Group was making solid progress on our journey to long-term profitable and sustainable growth. We have grown our unrivaled luxury customer base, expanded our industry-leading customer relationships, achieved higher omnichannel penetration, and made meaningful strides in our transformation to become the preeminent luxury customer platform. However, like most businesses today, we are facing unprecedented disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has placed inexorable pressure on our business.
Neiman Marcus Group also operates Bergdorf Goodman, Last Call outlets and mytheresa.com. Mytheresa is not a part of the Chapter 11 proceedings and will continue to operate independently.
Neiman Marcus temporarily closed its stores in March as a result of the pandemic, with plans to reopen as the health crisis stabilizes. No permanent store closures have been announced.
