U.S. mall owners Washington Prime Group and Namdar Realty Group will bid together to save department store chain Bon-Ton from liquidation, according to court documents filed Monday.
It was reported that the two landlords would attempt to acquire the embattled retailer out of bankruptcy. Bon-Ton, which operates other mall-based chains including Carson’s, Younkers and Herberger’s, is a tenant of Washington Prime’s and Namdar’s properties. Bon-Ton operated roughly 250 stores when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February. It had already started liquidating some of its assets — planning to close about 40 stores under various banners across the United States at the time.
In securing funding to make the deal work, it’s been reported that Washington Prime and Namdar will use their properties to raise debt to finance the acquisition. The court documents said the mall owners would acquire “substantially all of” Bon-Ton’s assets. Columbus, Ohio-based Washington Prime is a spinoff from Simon and owns interests in a little more than 100 properties today. Namdar, based in Great Neck, New York, also has about 100 properties, including medical and office buildings.
This wouldn’t be the first time two mall owners joined forces to save a struggling retailer in a bid to keep stores from going vacant, especially when a key tenant is involved. Simon and GGP, for example, bid roughly $240 million in 2016 to save teen apparel retailer Aeropostale from liquidating. The deal helped keep hundreds of stores open.