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“New year, new me” could apply to Macy’s 2024 in a very real way.
On Dec. 1, an investor group submitted a $5.8 billion proposal to acquire the department store chain and take it private, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital submitted the offer to acquire Macy’s at $21 per share, which in turn boosted the company’s share price 21% after the news broke.
- As the WSJ noted, the investor group believes Macy’s is undervalued. Its stock price closed at a hair above $17 the Friday before the news broke.
- Additionally, Macy’s has almost 500 stores in its portfolio and is the owner of Bluemercury, with nearly 160 locations, and Bloomingdales, which has about 30 shops.
Macy’s has had a rough year, and things before that weren’t looking great. In Q2, sales fell 8% year over year to $5.13 billion, and revenue from brick-and-mortar locations dropped while online sales declined 10%.
- But Macy’s has attempted—or at least announced attempts—to reinvigorate its business, including a plan to open 30 smaller format stores in 2024.
- In July, the company unveiled its latest private-label brand, the first of four it intends to debut by 2025.
Zoom out: Interestingly for Macy’s, the real value of the company might not lie in the business itself but rather its stores. Neil Saunders, managing director for GlobalData Retail, told WSJ Journal he estimates the company’s property is worth $6 billion, $1.2 billion more than its market cap.