JCPenney owners offer $8.6b for Kohl’s, NY Post reports

Bloomberg

Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management are offering to acquire retailer Kohl’s Corp in a deal that would be worth more than $8.6 billion, according to a report in the New York Post.
Simon and Brookfield, which bought rival department-store chain JCPenney out of bankruptcy, have offered $68 a share, according to people with knowledge of the talks who the Post didn’t identify.
Shares of Kohl’s jumped as much as 4.5% on the news. Simon Property stock fell 1.5% and Brookfield shares fell 0.9%. A Kohl’s spokesperson and an outside spokesperson for JCPenney didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment.
Kohl’s has been under pressure from activist investors
including Macellum Capital Management, which is seeking to take control of the company’s board.
The Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-based retailer has engaged Goldman Sachs Group Inc to field offers, saying that the firm is authorised to coordinate with select bidders.
“We believe occupancy-preservation was an important driver behind Simon’s purchases of JC Penney and Forever 21. That’s not a factor here because Kohl’s is mostly an off-mall retailer,” said Lindsay Dutch, REITs and consumer hardlines analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
Kohl’s said that Goldman had talked with more than 20 potential buyers. The retailer said earlier that it had rejected takeover offers it had received as too low, including a $64-a-share offer from Acacia Research Corp.