In the past several months, continuing a practice begun with the 2016 acquisition of teen apparel retailer Aeropostale, Simon Property Group acquired a slew of retailers. In a way, bankruptcy courts last year served as shopping centers of a sort themselves. Simon, in partnership with licensing and brand management firm Authentic Brands Group (via their 50/50 joint venture, Sparc), bought Lucky Brand and Brooks Brothers; earlier in the year, with rival Brookfield, they bought Forever 21. At the end of the year, Brookfield and Simon snapped up J.C. Penney for a cash payment of $692 million and new term debt.
