Executive Summary

• Luxury onmichannel retailer Neiman Marcus is exploring strategic options of a sale or capital restructuring, amid a swelling debt profile and a disappointing sales performance.
• Hudson’s Bay Co. is in exploratory talks with Neiman Marcus to discuss an acquisition. The debt profile of the target company is a significant obstacle.
• The retail industry, especially companies with a primarily brick-and-mortar presence, is facing significant headwinds brought, in part, by online competition. The news comes after the announcement that Macy’s is also exploring a possible sale, and after other major retailers such as BCBG Max Azria and Wet Seal have already filed for bankruptcy in 2017.