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Hudson’s Bay Co., the owner of luxury retailer Saks Fifth Avenue Inc., is tapping the junk-bond market to help finance its acquisition of Neiman Marcus Group.
The $2 billion, five-year bond was launched on Monday, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing a private transaction. Pricing will take place on Tuesday and proceeds will be used for the acquisition and to refinance existing debt, said the person, asking not to be identified discussing private details.
Hudson’s Bay agreed to buy Neiman earlier this year for $2.65 billion, with help from Amazon.com Inc. and Salesforce Inc., who would take minority shares in the company.
Jefferies Financial Group Inc. had been sounding out potential lenders for the deal in November, Bloomberg previously reported, and demand had already exceeded the size of the offering at early price discussions of about 10.5 percent, according to other people with knowledge of the matter.
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In July, Hudson’s Bay said it would finance the acquisition with a combination of equity and debt facilities. The firm had secured a $1.15 billion term loan from funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management Inc., and a $2 billion revolving asset-based loan facility from a group of banks led by Bank of America Corp.
The deal follows a rally in junk bonds, supported by a resilient economy as well as expectations of lower taxes and a more relaxed regulatory environment under President-Elect Donald Trump.
Jefferies, Bank of America, Royal Bank of Canada, Citigroup Inc., Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Capital One Financial Corp. are serving as bookrunners on the deal.
By Gowri Gurumurthy and Will Kubzansky
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