J.C. Penney announced yesterday that it has reached an agreement in principle with two of its landlords on a near eleventh-hour deal that will help the company avoid liquidating its business, saving about 70,000 jobs in the process.
Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners will pay $800 million for the retailer — $300 million in cash and $500 million in new term debt. The two will acquire “substantially all” of Penney’s operating and retail assets valued at $1.75 billion.
Penney will also get an additional $2 billion in revolving credit from Wells Fargo once the deal is done, which would leave the retailer with $1 billion in cash to go forward with.