Express receives letter of intent from consortium for sale of business

Express announced that it has received a non-binding letter of intent from a consortium led by WHP Global and participants including a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Simon Property Group and Brookfield Properties for the potential sale of a substantial majority of the company’s retail stores and operations. To facilitate the sale process, Express and its subsidiaries have filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Express has received a commitment for $35M in new financing from certain of its existing lenders, subject to court approval. Additionally, on April 15, the company received $49M in cash from the Internal Revenue Service related to the CARES Act. Express is continuing to serve customers in stores and online across its Express, Bonobos and UpWest brands and expects to conduct business as usual as the company works to right-size its lease portfolio and operations. Express also announced that it has named Mark Still as senior VP and CFO, effective immediately. Still has served as the company’s interim CFO since November 2023 and as senior VP, brand finance and planning & allocation since January 2023. He has held finance roles of increasing responsibility at Express since 2005 and brings to the CFO role insights across all aspects of the company’s finance organization and strategy. The company has filed a number of customary motions seeking court authorization to support its operations, including the payment of employee wages and benefits without interruption and the continuation of customer loyalty programs. The company expects to receive court approval for these requests shortly. The company looks forward to working with its vendor and supplier partners to ensure a continued successful enterprise for the benefit of the company’s customers and the communities it serves. The company expects to have sufficient liquidity to support the business during the court-supervised sale process. The company will continue to assess its store footprint in connection with this process. A&G Realty Partners is assisting the company with this effort.