Saks bought Neiman Marcus for $2.65B — then the luxury slowdown sent it bankrupt

Saks Global was the parent company uniting three of America's most famous luxury department stores: Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. It took that shape in 2024, when Saks — led by then-chief executive Richard Baker — acquired Neiman Marcus in a $2.65 billion merger, bringing two luxury retail icons under one roof.

The deal was financed with debt, and the debt was the problem. Saks Global was left carrying more than $2.5 billion of it, largely stemming from the Neiman Marcus acquisition. At the end of December 2025 a payment of more than $100 million came due, and the company could not meet it.

The timing was the cruel part. The merger had been struck just as the luxury market was softening: aspirational shoppers were pulling back amid inflation, supply-chain disruptions and the rise of direct-to-consumer brands, and growth had slowed. On 13 January 2026 Saks Global filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing unsustainable debt as the primary culprit.

Saks Global is a case about buying at the top of a cycle with borrowed money. The logic of combining two luxury retailers was real, but the deal was leveraged against a market that was about to turn; when aspirational spending cooled, the debt that had built the empire became the thing that broke it. The company emerged from bankruptcy five months later with far less debt and roughly half as many stores.

Filed Chapter 11 to cut ~75% of debt and half its stores, emerging five months later with far less leverage.

Saks Global was formed by the 2024 acquisition of Neiman Marcus, a $2.65 billion merger that left the combined company with more than $2.5 billion of debt.

The deal was struck just as the luxury market softened, with aspirational shoppers pulling back amid inflation and the rise of direct-to-consumer brands.

When a payment of more than $100 million came due at the end of December 2025, the company could not meet it.

On 13 January 2026 Saks Global filed for Chapter 11, citing unsustainable debt; it emerged five months later with far less debt and about half its stores.

An acquisition financed by debt is a bet the market will stay strong. Saks bought Neiman Marcus just as luxury spending cooled; the debt that built the empire became what broke it.

Saks Global emerged from Chapter 11 in June 2026 under a new corporate name, having cut its debt by roughly three-quarters and reduced its footprint to about 49 stores, with fresh financing to continue. The bankruptcy sent alarm bells through luxury retail, which had bet heavily on a post-pandemic spending boom that proved fleeting. It is cited as a warning about leveraged consolidation in a cyclical market: combining two great brands does not help if the price is paid with debt that a turning market cannot support.