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The parent of Saks Fifth Avenue agreed to buy rival upscale department store chain Neiman Marcus for $2.65 billion.
The boards of both retailers approved the deal and an announcement may come this evening, according to a WSJ report on Wednesday, which cited people familiar with the matter.
Under the agreement, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is expected to take a minority stake in the combined company, which will be called Saks Global. Salesforce (CRM) is another minority investor and is expected to help with artificial intelligence.
HBC, a holding company that purchased Saks in 2013, is financing the deal with $2 billion it raised from existing investors, the WSJ said. Apollo Global (APO) is providing $1.15 billion in debt financing.
The WSJ reported in December that Saks Fifth Avenue, part of Hudson’s Bay Company, made a $3 billion offer to buy Neiman Marcus that was rejected.