Report: Sycamore Partners puts Belk on shopping list?

Charlotte, N.C. – Family-owned Belk Inc., which hired Goldman Sachs in April to explore “strategic alternatives,” may have landed on a high-end shopping list. According to Reuters, New York-based equity firm Sycamore Partners may be considering bidding $3 billion to $3.5 billion for Belk.



Belk operates about 300 stores and averages about $4 billion in annual sales. In the first quarter of fiscal 2015, Belk reported earnings of $21.8 million and sales of $958 million, both of which were year-over-year improvements.



Belk has invested more than $600 million in key strategic initiatives in the last three fiscal years, including a comprehensive omnichannel initiative, a flagship strategy that includes opening stores in new and existing markets and remodeling existing stores and key merchandise departments, supply chain initiatives that align distribution capabilities to maximize sales and service, IT that delivers new business capabilities for growth and profitability, and customer service. According to Belk, these investments have an ongoing impact on earnings.



Reuters initially broke the news that Belk was considering a sale in April.