JC Penney reaches tentative rescue deal

New York

JC PENNEY has reached a tentative deal with landlords and lenders valued at US$1.75 billion to rescue the beleaguered department store chain from bankruptcy proceedings.

This would avert a liquidation that would have threatened roughly 70,000 jobs and represented one of the most significant business collapses following the coronavirus pandemic, a company lawyer said.

Mall owners Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners have teamed up to acquire JC Penney's retail operations and are putting the finishing touches on an agreement, said Joshua Sussberg, a lawyer representing the company, during a brief court hearing on Wednesday.

The deal would carve JC Penney into three pieces. In addition to the retail operations the landlords are purchasing, lenders would take control of two other entities housing some JC Penney stores and the retailer's distribution centres.

The landlords are poised to put US$300 million toward the rescue and have agreed to a nonbinding letter of intent with JC Penney, he said. The operating company they are acquiring would assume US$500 million of debt.

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JC Penney plans to move at "lightning speed" to seek approval of the deal from a bankruptcy judge in early October, Mr Sussberg said.

"We are in a position to move this into the end zone," he told US bankruptcy judge David Jones, noting that previous talks were in the "red zone" before faltering and then gaining renewed traction.

JC Penney expects to emerge from bankruptcy before the 2020 holiday season, the company said.

The restructured retailer is expected to operate about 650 stores in total.

Hedge funds and private-equity firms financing JC Penney's bankruptcy would take ownership of 161 of those stores and separate distribution centres after forgiving portions of the Texas-based company's US$5 billion debt load, Mr Sussberg said.

These lenders, led by H/2 Capital Partners, would own those assets in two separate property companies.

JC Penney is also in discussions with Wells Fargo & Co for roughly US$2 billion to finance its emergence from bankruptcy proceedings, Mr Sussberg said.

In the end, JC Penney will have about US$1 billion of cash to fund its business when the deal closes.

The iconic 118-year-old retailer, which went public at the start of the Great Depression, filed for bankruptcy in a Texas court in May after the pandemic forced it to temporarily close its then nearly 850 stores.

Should it survive, JC Penney will have withstood unprecedented economic turmoil stemming from the pandemic and bankruptcy proceedings that have felled other retailers during less fraught times.

In recent years, Toys 'R' Us and Barneys New York failed to reorganise under bankruptcy protection and liquidated.

A deal is not yet completed, Mr Sussberg cautioned. Talks with the landlords have hit roadblocks before, and the parties engaged in screaming matches as recently as Wednesday, he added.

Negotiations continued during phone calls moments before the court hearing, he said.

If the discussions fall apart, JC Penney would likely be on course for liquidation. Mr Sussberg expressed optimism a deal would be codified and the judge encouraged the parties to keep working to seal an agreement.

JC Penney's survival hinges on the sale negotiations, which have consumed the summer and drawn urgent directives from the company's bankruptcy judge for parties to set aside what he labelled egos and negotiating postures to consummate a deal to save the beleaguered retailer.

The talks have dragged on for weeks in part amid haggling over lease terms.

In late August, the discussions with Simon and Brookfield reached an impasse, prompting JC Penney to ask lenders to take control of its retail operations in addition to the real estate investment trusts they envisioned owning.

After further discussions, the company reached a deal with Simon and Brookfield to buy the retail operations.

Any deal would require approval from the company's bankruptcy judge and be subject to competing bids in a looming court-supervised auction.

Private equity firm Sycamore Partners and Saks Fifth Avenue owner Hudson's Bay also vied for JC Penney's retail business earlier this summer, according to people familiar with the matter.

For Simon and Brookfield, the deal talks reflect a dramatic shift following the pandemic that is pushing them to rescue faltering retailers occupying malls they own across the US.

The demise of large tenants such as JC Penney would deprive them of rent and also potentially trigger contract clauses allowing other retailers to pay them less or break their leases altogether, further darkening malls.

Simon, the largest mall operator in the US, has already this year negotiated separate deals to rescue the two-centuries-old men's apparel clothier Brooks Brothers and denim retailer Lucky Brand from bankruptcy.

Brookfield in May said it would devote US$5 billion to non-controlling investments designed to revitalise retailers struggling in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

The pandemic has forced Neiman Marcus Group and J Crew Group to seek bankruptcy protection, and even retailers that have avoided restructurings, such as Gap, have at times stopped paying rent or tried to negotiate lower payments. REUTERS