Mall owners Simon Property Group and Brookfield have partnered with Authentic Brands to explore a purchase of bankrupt department-store chain J.C. Penney, sources told Bloomberg.
Simon is the biggest mall owner in the country and Brookfield, a unit of Brookfield Asset Management, is the second largest.
J.C. Penney last month filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of federal bankruptcy and is hurriedly working to finalize a business plan by the July 14 deadline, Bloomberg reported. After that, Penney could run out of cash to finance its reorganization.
Authentic Brands owns a portfolio of over 50 brands that include Spyder, Tretorn, Tapout, Prince, and Volcom. Authentic joined with Simon and Brookfield earlier this year to purchase teen clothing chain Forever 21 out of bankruptcy. Authentic last year acquired Barneys out of bankruptcy proceedings and is also the owner of Aeropostale after combining with Simon and Brookfield to purchase it out of bankruptcy in 2016.
Photo courtesy J.C. Penney
