Neiman Marcus Arrives At Agreement ‘In Principle’ With Lenders

To lengthen the maturity of term loans and notes, Neiman Marcus and majority noteholders have reportedly come to an agreement. The information came to light through documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on the morning of Friday (March 1), Retail Dive reported.

The parties “have reached an agreement in principle on the framework of a comprehensive transaction,” according to a document filed with the SEC. On Friday, Neiman Marcus reportedly said in a press release that an agreement in progress would allow it to have an “ample runway” for its efforts toward transformation. In addition, the company noted that it forecasts a rise in comparable revenue to 1 percent from 0.5 percent on a U.S. basis for its second fiscal quarter. That rise is said to mark six straight quarters of increases.

The company also reportedly had presentations that encompassed eCommerce unit Mytheresa, which the retailer transferred to another portion of its business in 2018. And having the unit in the agreement seems to be pivotal in the discussions per reports. As it stands, the unit is said to have taken in € 303 million Euros in fiscal 2018 along with 177,000 new customers.

The news comes after Neiman Marcus Group announced the appointment of two executives to lead its customer and store strategies in early February: David Goubert was named executive vice president of stores and retail experience, while Ginger Mollo was appointed to the position of senior vice president of retail experience for the West Coast. Those efforts come as the brand seeks to revamp its retail experience as it competes with Amazon as well as other eCommerce firms.

Neiman Marcus Group Chief Executive Officer Geoffroy van Raemdonck said in a press release at the time, “We are transforming the Neiman Marcus Group into a luxury customer platform — focused on customer engagement across a luxury lifestyle. To do this, we believe innovation starts at the top, and we continue to recruit executives with outstanding performance track records who come from the best in class customer and digital-centric organizations to accelerate our transformation.”