Amazon objects to Saks’ bankruptcy funding plan; calls equity 'worthless'
Amazon has filed an objection to Saks Global bankruptcy funding plan, whose short-term financing was approved early Thursday by the judge who is overseeing the case in a Houston federal court.
The online giant invested $475 million as part of Saks’ $2.7 billion acquisition of Neiman Marcus Group in late 2024, with plans to work with the luxury retailer to innovate on behalf of customers and brand partners following the close of the transaction. Its investment in Saks was also contingent on an agreement for Saks to sell products on the online giant’s platform, which included launching “Saks on Amazon” (launched in April 2025). In return, Saks agreed to pay a referral fee and guaranteed at least $900 million in payments to Amazon over eight years.
In its court filing, Amazon said that its $475 million equity investment is now “presumptively worthless," saying Saks filed to meet its budgets, burned through hundreds of million of dollars in less than a year and ran up “additional hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid invoices owed to its retail partners.”
The plan approved by the judge on Thursday gives Saks access to approximately $400 million in cash (the company needs to return for final approval of its entire $1.75 billion debtor-in-possession loan). At the hearing, Saks chief restructuring officer Mark Weinsten said that the retailer had $30 million to $35 million in bills due on Thursday alone and would likely run out of money completely this week if the financing were not approved, reported WWD.
Amazon wants the court to reject Saks' full financing plan. In its filing, Amazon contended that the financing package would leave Saks with new debt and includes other terms that would harm Amazon and other unsecured creditors of Saks. It also reduces the amount of money that Amazon could potentially be repaid during the proceedings by putting the company further down the repayment lineup.
“Overall, there are significant issues to be addressed in these Chapter 11 Cases with respect to the Debtors’ mismanagement, improper governance, and disregard of corporate separateness,” Amazon said in its filing.
To read Amazon's filing, click here.
