Saks Owner Acquires Neiman Marcus, Creating a Luxury Retail Giant

In a move that would further consolidate the luxury retail market, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue has agreed to acquire Neiman Marcus in a $2.65 billion deal, creating the ultimate high-end department store behemoth, the companies announced on Wednesday.

The deal, which had been rumored since Neiman Marcus filed for bankruptcy protection during the pandemic, comes just over four years after Saks bought the license for the Barneys name following the bankruptcy of that group. It also follows a wave of luxury e-tail failures, including those of FarFetch and Matches.com. Saks is owned by HBC, a retail conglomerate that bought the American chain in 2013 — the year after HBC also acquired Lord & Taylor.

“Customers love to go to a store,” Richard Baker, the chief executive and chairman of HBC, told The New York Times. “They live to touch a product and spend time with their personal shoppers.”

He added: “Part what excites us about acquiring Neiman Marcus was acquiring their world-class sales force. People have forgotten how important people are. When selling luxury products, you need beautiful stores and salespeople customers trust.”

The acquisition of Neiman Marcus makes Saks Global, as the new group will be called, the dominant player in its market, with a combined 75 stores (including two Bergdorf Goodman locations), as well as 100 off-price outlets. The new group’s only real rivals in the United States will be Macy’s, which also includes Bloomingdale’s, and Nordstrom. It will be run by Marc Metrick, the current chief executive of Saks and Saks.com.

The companies said they planned to invest in technology, including artificial intelligence, as well as both legacy and emerging brands.