Brookfield and Simon, Lenders Agree to Acquire J.C. Penney Assets in Bankruptcy Sale

Paul, Weiss is advising Brookfield Asset Management, Inc and Simon Property Group in their agreement to purchase certain assets of J. C. Penney Company, Inc. out of bankruptcy. The iconic retail chain filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 in May 2020. If approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the deal would preserve the chain as a going concern.

Under the terms of the proposed asset purchase agreement, Brookfield, Simon and a majority of J.C. Penney’s DIP and first lien lenders would together acquire substantially all of J. C. Penney’s retail and operating assets through a combination of cash and new term loan debt.

The Paul, Weiss team includes, among others, corporate partners Ted Ackerman, Manuel Frey, David Huntington, Robert Schumer and Robert Zochowski and counsel Mikhel Schecter; restructuring partner Brian Hermann and counsel Sarah Harnett and Sam Lovett; tax partner Scott Sontag; intellectual property partner Claudine Meredith-Goujon; real estate partner Salvatore Gogliormella and counsel Allen Wieder; employee benefits partner Lawrence Witdorchic and counsel Uri Horowitz and Nicole Tark; litigation partners Gregory Laufer and Aidan Synnott and counsel Rachel Fiorill, Steven Herzog and Peter Jaffe; antitrust counsel Marta Kelly and Yuni Sobel; and environmental counsel William O'Brien.