Lucky, Forever 21 Operator Merges With JCPenney

Sparc Group, the operator of fashion brands including Lucky, Eddie Bauer, Aeropostale, Forever 21 and Brooks Brothers, has merged with JCPenney to form a new company called Catalyst Brands, according to a release Wednesday afternoon.

The joint venture was formed in an all-equity transaction between JCPenney and SPARC Group and its shareholders Simon Property Group, Brookfield Corp., Authentic Brands Group and SheIn Group Ltd., according to the release. Catalyst will be headed by former JCPenney chief executive officer Marc Rosen.

Combined, Catalyst has about $9 billion of revenue, 1,800 store locations, 60,000 employees and $1 billion of liquidity, according to the statement. Catalyst in its release said has sold its US operations of Reebok and is exploring strategic options for the operations of Forever 21.

Authentic Brands bought the Forever 21 brand name out of bankruptcy in February 2020 and licensed it to Sparc to operate through a fleet of about 500 stores, some of which were leased by Simon Property. The move served to benefit both, keeping mall occupancy up while giving Authentic — the owner of dozens of lifestyle and retail brands — another stream of income.

JCPenney filed for bankruptcy protection in 2020 and was acquired by Simon Property and Brookfield Asset Management Inc., another mall owner, for $800 million.

By Reshmi Basu and Eliza Ronalds-Hannon

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