Episode Details

Saks Global files for chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company was saddled with a large amount of debt stemming from the purchase of Neiman Marcus, which was funded with $2.2 billion in junk bonds. Right after the merger with Neiman Marcus, Saks immediately began having cash flow issues. Saks stopped paying vendors, vendors didn’t send products, and soon the lack of adequate inventory led to a drop in sales. The deterioration in sales meant that Saks was unable to make a $100 million dollar interest payment on their debt in December. Richard Baker, Saks Global CEO, was forced to step down and a new team has come in to lead the company through restructuring. This episode reviewed multiple articles from The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) and CNBC.