Saks Global Emerges From Bankruptcy

Paul, Weiss advised an ad hoc group of senior secured noteholders and debtor-in-possession lenders of Saks Global Enterprises LLC and its affiliates during the luxury retailer’s chapter 11 restructuring, through Saks’ successful emergence from bankruptcy as Exemplar Luxury Group. Saks commenced its bankruptcy cases on January 13 with over $3.4 billion in funded debt, and the ad hoc group provided $1 billion in emergency DIP financing to fund the obligations of the debtors through their chapter 11 cases. The group also provided $500 million in new exit financing and now owns substantially all of Exemplar’s equity. Upon emergence, Exemplar preserved three of the nation’s oldest luxury retailers—Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman—while reducing its funded debt obligations by over 75%.
 
The Paul, Weiss team included, among others, restructuring and debt capital solutions partners Sung Pak, Christopher Hopkins, Robert Britton and Andrew Rosenberg, and counsel Douglas Keeton and Jessica Choi; real estate partners Peter Fisch and Ida Nowaid; corporate partner David Huntington, and counsel Gary Kavarsky, Justin Fraterman and Ashley Yoon; intellectual property partner Claudine Meredith-Goujon; tax partner Brian Krause and counsel Samir Kurani; litigation partners William Clareman and Paul Paterson; executive compensation partner Lawrence Witdorchic; and antitrust partners Christopher Wilson, Ross Ferguson and Yuni Sobel.