Consumer
In Potential Deal to Take Macy’s Private, It’s All About the Real Estate
- Property assets represent most of the possible deal’s value
- Buyers could seek to spin off Bloomingdale’s, Bluemercury
A Macy's store in New York.
Photographer: Bing Guan/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The potential acquirers of Macy’s Inc. probably aren’t interested in trying to arrest the storied department-store operator’s decades-long decline. Instead, analysts say the investors are likely eager to buy its real estate assets and potentially spin off its higher-end Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury chains.
“There’s way easier places to make money than buying a midtier department store,” said Joel Bines, the former head of Alix Partners’ global retail practice who now advises retail companies’ boards. “Why would you want the brain damage of trying to make money in this space?”