Brooks Brothers Financial Report 2018

Brooks Brothers has announced that the Authentic Brands Group and SPARC Group were selected as the winning bidders in the company’s sale process.
As part of the agreement, SPARC has committed to continue operating at least 125 Brooks Brothers retail locations. The bidders also intend to preserve the Brooks Brothers brand as a whole.

To help Brooks Brothers expand its manufacturing operations in Haverhill, state officials awarded the company $2.1 million in tax credits nearly six years ago.
Now that the factory is being idled and 400 or so workers left without jobs, the Baker administration is asking for the state’s money back — all of it.
Annamarie Kersten, of the state’s Executive Office of Housing & Economic Development, sent a letter on July 16 to Golden Fleece Manufacturing, a division of New York-based Brooks Brothers, to inform the company that state officials intend to “claw back” all of the $2.1 million in tax credits it received. Such a move is unusual: It has only previously happened twice in the state.

Brooks Brothers, the 200-year-old menswear retailer that has dressed 40 US presidents and unofficially became the outfitter of Wall Street bankers, has filed for bankruptcy.
The privately held company had been struggling as business attire grew more casual in recent years. But it has been decimated by the coronavirus pandemic, which sent demand for suits plummeting. Many working-from-home employees opted for far more relaxed looks of T-shirts and sweatpants rather than pinstripe suits and custom shirts.

"Although the pandemic has severely eroded the outlook for the business, Brooks Brothers has long suffered from a failure to decisively adapt to changing trends," said Neil Saunders, the managing director of GlobalData Retail. "When it comes to tastes and style, Brooks Brothers has been swimming against the tide."

Brooks Brothers filed for Chapter 11 early Wednesday in a Delaware court. It had warned in June it would lay off nearly 700 workers in three states and is seeking a buyer because coronavirus destroyed its business.

Under the terms of the agreement, SPARC intends to purchase substantially all the Company’s global business operations as a going concern for $305 million. SPARC has also committed to acquiring at least 125 Brooks Brothers retail locations. The agreement is subject to court approval and any higher or better offers as part of the Company’s ongoing auction process.

SPARC is a full-service retail operator with a multi-brand platform that supports over 2,600 retail stores and shop-in-shops, a robust eCommerce platform, and leading wholesale accounts in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. As the dedicated operating partner for the Aéropostale and Nautica brands, SPARC supports over $2.7 billion in global retail sales annually.