Saks CEO Marc Metrick steps down

Saks Global Enterprises’ chief executive officer Marc Metrick is stepping down from his role as the cash-strapped high-end retailer considers its restructuring options, including a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. 

Metrick will be replaced by the department-store chain’s executive chairman Richard Baker, according to a statement Friday. Baker will hold both the CEO and chairman roles. 

Metrick is leaving the company in order to pursue new opportunities, according to the statement. 

The switch-up comes as Saks is weighing a potential bankruptcy after struggling financially over the past year despite raising billions of dollars from investors to finance a turnaround plan centred on the acquisition of Neiman Marcus. 

Just days ago, Bloomberg reported that Saks is seeking to negotiate a deal with creditors after skipping an interest payment totalling more than $100 million that was due to bondholders. The company is contemplating raising emergency funds, selling assets or, as a last resort, filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

A filing would come just months after Saks restructured its debt in June, imposing steep losses on some creditors and taking on new, senior debt in an effort to fund what it called a “transformation strategy.”