Bergdorf flagship to change hands in $6B Neiman Marcus deal

A group led by Ares Management and a Canadian pension fund is set to pick up two Bergdorf Goodman stores in Manhattan and 79 other stores across the country as part of a $6 billion acquisition of the retailer Neiman Marcus.

The deal marked the latest luxury department store transaction since the Hudson’s Bay Company paid $2.4 billion for Saks earlier this year. The Bergdorf Flagship Is Located On Fifth Avenue at 58th Street, across the street from its separate men’s store location.

The previous owners were a group of private equity investors led by TPG and Warburg Pincus, who paid $5.1 billion for Neiman in 2005. Ahead of a planned initial public offering, the owners searched for a buyer; they were prepared to proceed with the IPO if they did not find a buyer willing to pay the $6 billion price tag, people briefed on the deal told the New York Times.

Neiman Marcus management will retail a minority stake in the company, while Ares and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board will have equal stakes to one another. The deal, buyers told the Times, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2013. [NYT] — Julie Strickland