Saks Global: $1.24B DIP Plan Confirmed, Debt Cut Nearly 75%

Saks Global Enterprises LLC, the luxury-retail holding company behind Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, and Saks OFF 5TH, filed voluntary chapter 11 petitions beginning January 13, 2026 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (Houston Division), under lead case number 26-90103 before Judge Alfredo R. Pérez. The filing arrived roughly a year after Saks completed its debt-financed acquisition of Neiman Marcus in 2024, a combination that left the merged group carrying about $3.4 billion in funded debt into a deteriorating liquidity position.

The case was structured as a creditor-led balance-sheet restructuring rather than a going-concern sale. By the confirmation stage it had split into two parallel tracks filed the same day: a reorganization for the operating "Global Debtors" built on converting debtor-in-possession debt into equity, and a separate liquidation for the "SO5 Digital Debtors" that runs the off-price Saks OFF 5TH business through a wind-down trust. The combined hearing for final disclosure-statement approval and plan confirmation was set for June 5, 2026, and the company announced that it had secured court approval of the reorganization plan, cutting debt by nearly 75%. The DIP term-loan lenders are positioned to take majority ownership of the reorganized company, while general unsecured creditors are routed into a funded litigation trust.

Debtor(s)	Saks Global Enterprises LLC (jointly administered Global Debtors; separate SO5 Digital Debtors group)
Court	U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Texas (Houston Division)
Case Number	26-90103
Petition Date	January 13, 2026
Judge	Hon. Alfredo R. Pérez
DIP Facility	$1.24 billion new-money DIP (SGUS DIP and OPCO DIP; Deutsche Bank Trust Company, N.A. as agent); term loan in First Out / Second Out / Third Out tranches
Plan Type	Dual-path: Global Debtors reorganization (DIP equitization, litigation trust); SO5 Digital Debtors liquidation (wind-down trust)

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Neiman Marcus Integration and the Path to chapter 11

Saks Global was formed by combining Saks Fifth Avenue and Hudson's Bay with the Neiman Marcus Group, creating a single luxury-retail holding company operating Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, and the off-price Saks OFF 5TH chain. The group acquired Neiman Marcus in 2024 in a debt-financed transaction. Reporting on the filing tied the chapter 11 to a liquidity crisis stemming from the Neiman Marcus acquisition, after earlier out-of-court financing efforts failed to resolve the combined group's capital-structure problems.

In his declaration supporting confirmation, chief restructuring officer Mark Weinstein framed the stated objectives of the cases as a need to right-size the capital structure and strengthen vendor relationships. The debtors used the process to consolidate warehouses, optimize the full-price Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Bergdorf Goodman stores, and negotiate landlord settlements — including with Simon Property Group and GGP Services — to lock in restructured lease terms aligned with a go-forward business plan. Prepetition vendor and landlord payment issues were documented in coverage of the restructuring.

Store closures and footprint rationalization. Alongside the balance-sheet work, the debtors executed a broad store-rationalization program across all three banners. Saks moved to close stores across 18 states, shuttering Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus locations and most of its standalone Fifth Avenue Club styling suites, and folded the Horchow e-commerce site into the Neiman Marcus platform. By early March, reporting indicated that only 13 Saks Fifth Avenue locations would remain after the latest wave, with an additional 15 locations across 12 states identified for closure. On the off-price side, the debtors moved to close most Saks OFF 5TH brick-and-mortar stores and the Neiman Marcus Last Call outlet channel. The company also sold its corporate Gulfstream jet under court approval as part of the effort to shrink operating costs.

Real-estate joint venture with Simon. Saks Global holds a real-estate joint venture, the HBS JV, with Simon Property Group L.P., Simon Property Group, Inc., and other limited partners. The Global Debtors own approximately 62.4% of the equity interests in the HBS JV, which holds roughly 30 properties, each in a separate special-purpose-entity subsidiary. That structure made Simon both a landlord and a joint-venture partner.

Prepetition Capital Structure and the Notes Stack

The prepetition capital structure was layered across an asset-based facility, a multi-tranche secured notes stack, and real-estate-level mortgage debt. At the top of the operating structure sat an ABL facility with Bank of America, N.A., as ABL agent, with Otterbourg P.C. and Morgan Lewis serving as Bank of America's counsel in the case.

The secured notes layer included 11.000% senior secured asset-based notes due 2029, defined in the plan as the "Additional SGUS Notes" and issued in an aggregate principal amount of $462.5 million. Beneath and alongside those notes, the debtors carried a multi-tranche secured notes structure referenced as First Out, Second Out, and Third Out Notes, with a separate "NPC Agent" and "Initial Notes Agent" among the trustee and agent parties, and prepetition collateral-agent roles held by parties including Pathlight Capital LP and Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital Holdings. Combined, the merged group entered chapter 11 with approximately $3.4 billion in funded debt.

Real-estate-level secured debt added another layer. The HBS JV properties carry commercial-mortgage-backed-securities exposure, with "SFAVE Commercial Mortgage Securities Trust" certificates and a "Hudson's Bay Simon JV" special-servicer party appearing among the secured and notice parties. The precise prepetition principal amounts for every tranche were not fully set out in the available plan text, but the structure left the operating debtors and the real-estate venture financed through distinct creditor groups whose treatment had to be reconciled in a single plan.

Two DIP Facilities and $1.24 Billion in New Money

Saks Global's postpetition financing was structured as two separate facilities — the SGUS DIP and the OPCO DIP — with Deutsche Bank Trust Company, National Association, serving as agent on both, care of Seward & Kissel. At filing, the company reported securing roughly $1.75 billion in new financing, including about $1.0 billion of DIP financing, to fund operations through the restructuring. By the plan stage, CRO Mark Weinstein's confirmation declaration put the new-money DIP financing at $1.24 billion.

The DIP term loan is split into three tranches whose claim amounts, as reflected in the plan vote tabulation, are substantial. According to Stretto's voting and tabulation declaration, the First Out DIP Term Loan Facility (Class 3-A) carries a claim of $981,018,578.05, the Second Out facility (Class 3-B) $724,573,145.09, and the Third Out facility (Class 3-C) $708,726,212.73. All three DIP tranches voted to accept the plan at 100% by both number and amount.

Final use of cash collateral was addressed at the second-day hearings on February 20, 2026, where the SO5 Digital Debtors sought approval of final cash-collateral use. Landlords and the creditors' committee participated, and the priority and preservation of prepetition secured parties' merchandise proceeds — more than roughly $10 million of prepetition merchandise proceeds were at issue — was a point of negotiation. The creditors' committee and prepetition secured parties ultimately framed the financing terms within the broader plan settlement, with detailed DIP pricing, roll-up mechanics, and milestones residing in the DIP order and disclosure statement.

Dual-Path Plan: Global Reorganization and SO5 Liquidation

By confirmation, the case had resolved into two divergent plans for two debtor groups, filed the same day. The Global Debtors pursued a Second Amended Joint Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization built on non-substantive consolidation, meaning claims against each Global Debtor are resolved on an individual-entity basis rather than pooled. That plan vests assets in the reorganized debtors and creates a funded litigation trust for unsecured creditors. The off-price SO5 Digital Debtors — Saks OFF 5TH Holdings LLC, Saks OFF 5TH LLC, Saks OFF 5TH Midco Partner Inc., and Luxury Outlets USA, LLC — instead pursued a Second Amended Plan of Liquidation that establishes a liquidation trust, wind-down debtors, and a plan administrator to monetize remaining assets and distribute proceeds.

The DIP conversion. The reorganization is anchored by a "DIP Conversion": on the effective date, certain consenting DIP term-loan lenders become the majority owners of the reorganized Global Debtors. The group of bondholders that backstopped the DIP financing had been identified during the case as the parties in line to own the retailer after bankruptcy. Emergence is funded in part by $500 million in new-money exit financing committed by the New Capital Commitment Parties, alongside new exit facilities including an exit ABL facility — terms consistent with the company's earlier $500 million restructuring support agreement with senior secured bondholders.

Silo-based class structure. The Global Debtors' plan classifies claims across three entity silos — OpCo (Classes 4-A through 4-G), HoldCo II (Classes 5-A through 5-D), and TopCo (Classes 6-A and 6-B) — plus administrative, secured, DIP, and residual classes, all designated impaired. The OpCo silo separates the prepetition SGUS notes, FILO and NPC claims, OpCo second-out and third-out notes, the initial notes, go-forward trade claims, and general unsecured claims into distinct classes. The HoldCo II silo carries the SGUS notes guarantee, Axonic guarantee, go-forward trade, and general unsecured claims, while the TopCo silo holds the TopCo facility and general unsecured claims, as set out in the plan's classification scheme.

Unsecured recovery mechanics. Holders of general unsecured claims receive interests in a funded litigation trust, the Litigation Trust Class B Interests, with no fixed recovery percentage — distributions depend on the amount of allowed claims and the proceeds the trust realizes, distributed under a waterfall set out in the settlement term sheet and the plan. Holders of go-forward trade claims may receive a pro rata share of cash-pool distributions if their classes vote to accept the plan, in addition to the litigation trust interests. Through the bankruptcy-era operating period, Saks Global generated roughly $1.6 billion in sales and logged $422.6 million of revenue in April as it neared exit.

Plan Voting and the Class 4-G Cramdown

Solicitation closed at the June 1, 2026 voting deadline, and Stretto's tabulation, the Declaration of Leticia Sanchez, was filed June 4. Nearly all voting classes accepted, but Class 4-G — the prepetition initial notes claims — rejected the plan, voting just 46.7% in favor by number and 3.1% by amount. Classes 6-A, 6-B, 8, and 9 were deemed to reject, leaving confirmation to proceed by cramdown of the dissenting classes.

Class	Description	Accept (No. / Amount)	Result
3-A	First Out DIP Term Loan	100% / 100%	Accept
3-B	Second Out DIP Term Loan	100% / 100%	Accept
3-C	Third Out DIP Term Loan	100% / 100%	Accept
4-A	Prepetition SGUS Notes	98.2% / 91.3%	Accept
4-B	Prepetition FILO / NPC	100% / 100%	Accept
4-C	Prepetition OpCo Second Out Notes	97.6% / 97.1%	Accept
4-D	Go-Forward OpCo Trade	100% / 100%	Accept
4-E	OpCo General Unsecured	93.6% / 84.2%	Accept
4-F	Prepetition OpCo Third Out Notes	93.8% / 97.7%	Accept
4-G	Prepetition Initial Notes	46.7% / 3.1%	Reject
5-A	HoldCo II SGUS Guarantee	100% / 100%	Accept
5-B	Axonic Guarantee	100% / 100%	Accept
5-C	Go-Forward HoldCo II Trade	100% / 100%	Accept
5-D	HoldCo II General Unsecured	No votes cast	Presumed accept

The debtors' brief in support of confirmation carried the cramdown showing and the response to the remaining objections. The official committee of unsecured creditors filed a recommendation to accept the plan, describing it as embodying the most favorable settlement attainable for unsecured creditors, preserving the litigation trust's retained causes of action, and avoiding costly litigation that could delay emergence.

Key professionals. The Global Debtors retained Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, with Deborah Sinclair and Stewart Alberty appearing for the debtors, and Haynes and Boone, LLP, with Kelli Norfleet, as co-counsel. PJT Partners LP served as investment banker and Accordion Partners, LLC as financial advisor, with both filing monthly fee statements during the case. Stretto served as solicitation and balloting agent, tabulating the plan vote through Leticia Sanchez, and the creditors' committee was represented by Cole Schotz and Milbank LLP.

Litigation Trust and Third-Party Releases

The plan embodies a global settlement among the Global Debtors, the creditors' committee, and the ad hoc group, with a separate plan settlement that resolves the claims of Axonic Coinvest II, LP, a prepetition secured creditor. Central to the settlement is a funded litigation trust that pursues the "Litigation Trust Retained Causes of Action" — claims identified by the creditors' committee against certain officers, directors, and third parties that were expressly not released under the plan and carved out of the plan and confirmation-order releases.

The plan otherwise contains broad third-party releases with a ballot opt-out. The defined "Released Parties" reach the Global Debtors and estates, the reorganized debtors and specified related parties, the DIP agents and DIP lenders, the New Capital Commitment Parties, the creditors' committee and its members, the ad hoc group and its members, the prepetition trustees and agents, and the litigation trustee — subject to a proviso that an entity is not released unless it is also a releasing party. The releases include an explicit carve-out for Ian Putnam, who is not a Released Party. Verve Culture Inc., objecting to confirmation, challenged the plan injunction and exculpation provisions as functionally permanent, noting that pursuing a claim against an exculpated party would require a court determination of a "colorable claim."

Simon Lease Recapture Dispute and Confirmation Objections

The most contested dispute in the case was between the debtors and Simon Property Group over two store leases. Simon sought to exercise recapture and termination rights over the Stanford Shopping Center and Woodbury leases under a December 2024 letter agreement, premised on alleged prepetition payment defaults — Simon claimed roughly $4 million of payments were not made when due, including more than $2 million of real-estate taxes. The dispute turned on contract interpretation of the notice-of-default and cure mechanics in the letter agreement. Multi-day evidentiary hearings ran February 24 through 27, 2026, with closing arguments March 2, and the debtors sought to keep the two locations open. Paul Hastings LLP, through Nathaniel Ward, served as the debtors' lease-litigation counsel against a Simon team that included Sidley Austin, Sullivan & Worcester, and WilmerHale. The litigation was ultimately resolved through a settlement with Simon Property Group before the confirmation hearing.

Entering the June 5 confirmation hearing, the debtors' confirmation brief reported 12 formal objections to confirmation, of which two were resolved and 10 remained unresolved as of June 4, with the debtors continuing to engage the remaining objectors as additional withdrawals were filed. The objection wave spanned landlords, vendors, and individuals. A group of landlords led by GGP Services, Aventura Fashion Island, and Regency raised adequate-assurance and cure objections and asserted an allowed general unsecured claim of $20,604,924, while Bal Harbour Shops and BP Prucenter Acquisition lodged related cure and assumption objections.

Among the individual objectors, Saks founder and executive Richard A. Baker objected over a separation agreement and indemnification rights that he argued could not be rejected, a dispute over preserving his indemnification under a prior agreement. Louis Vuitton USA objected over the assumption and treatment of a concession-type agreement, Teamsters Local 210 and its pension fund filed a labor and pension reservation, and People Center, Inc. doing business as Rippling lodged a confirmation objection. Cure and assumption disputes active at the confirmation stage included objections from Salesforce, Tata Consultancy Services, Westfield, and an insurance-related objection by Chubb joined by Safety National.

Key Timeline

By early May 2026, the debtors had received court approval to proceed with creditor solicitation on the reorganization plan, with the voting deadline set for June 1 and the combined confirmation hearing held June 5.

Date	Event
January 13, 2026	Global Debtors file voluntary chapter 11 petitions (Lead Case 26-90103)
January 14, 2026	First Day Declaration of CRO Mark Weinstein filed
February 20, 2026	Second-day hearings; final cash-collateral use addressed
February 24–27, 2026	Evidentiary hearing on Simon Property Group lease recapture (Stanford and Woodbury)
March 2, 2026	Closing arguments on the Simon lease motions
June 1, 2026	Plan voting deadline; formal confirmation objections filed
June 4, 2026	Confirmation papers filed: reorganization plan, SO5 liquidation plan, confirmation brief, CRO declaration, and vote tabulation
June 5, 2026	Combined hearing for final disclosure-statement approval and plan confirmation; court approves the reorganization plan

Frequently Asked Questions

Who will own Saks Global after bankruptcy?

Under the confirmed reorganization plan, certain consenting DIP term-loan lenders become the majority owners of the reorganized Global Debtors through a "DIP Conversion" on the effective date. The group of bondholders that financed the DIP facilities had been identified during the case as the parties in line to take ownership of the retailer.

Why did Saks Global file two different plans?

The operating Global Debtors pursued a plan of reorganization that keeps the full-price Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman business as a going concern, while the off-price SO5 Digital Debtors that run Saks OFF 5TH pursued a separate plan of liquidation that winds down through a liquidation trust and plan administrator.

What happens to unsecured creditors?

General unsecured creditors receive interests in a funded litigation trust rather than a fixed recovery percentage. The trust pursues retained causes of action against certain officers, directors, and third parties, and distributions depend on allowed claim amounts and the proceeds the trust recovers.

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