The parent of Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Bergdorf Goodman cut its debt by 75% and closed hundreds of stores during restructuring
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Exemplar Luxury Group, formerly Saks Global, completed its Chapter 11 restructuring on Friday and adopted a new corporate name, the company said. Through the reorganization, the company shed nearly three-quarters of its debt load and secured $500 million in fresh exit financing.
CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck said the new name signals the company's commitment to high-end retail across all three banners. "It's a really big day for the Exemplar Luxury Group. We are starting as a new company," van Raemdonck told WWD. The three store brands — Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Bergdorf Goodman — will keep their existing names and logos, the company said.
Saks Global filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2026, about 13 months after it bought Neiman Marcus Group for $2.7 billion, according to The New York Times. The deal, led by former owner Richard Baker, left the company with a lot of debt. Vendors started holding back inventory because of late payments, which sped up the company's financial troubles.
When the restructuring concluded, ABC News reported that 49 stores remained open across the three banners — a footprint that breaks down to 33 Neiman Marcus locations, 15 Saks Fifth Avenue outlets, and the Bergdorf Goodman flagship on Fifth Avenue, down from a pre-bankruptcy total of roughly 170. Van Raemdonck said that the Off 5th discount chain had been largely shuttered, with just 12 stores kept open strictly to move excess inventory.
Alongside the name change, Exemplar reconstituted its board of directors. Two seats apiece on the seven-member board went to representatives of Pentwater Capital Management and Bracebridge Capital, the investment firms that backed the company during its time in bankruptcy, the company said. Rounding out the board are van Raemdonck himself and two outside directors — Dave Kimbell, who ran Ulta $ULTA Beauty before stepping down as CEO, and Philippe Schaus, a longtime LVMH executive committee member who most recently led Moët Hennessy as its president and global chief executive.
Looking ahead, van Raemdonck outlined a strategy centered on drawing clearer distinctions between the three store brands, deepening one-on-one relationships with shoppers, and deploying a sales force of over 1,500 associates — each of whom has a personal selling history exceeding $1 million. He also said the company intends to keep prioritizing vendor relationships and paying brands on agreed terms. "Our goal is to be a double-digit EBITDA company," van Raemdonck said.
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