JCPenney merged with Simon Properties Authentic Retail Concepts to create Catalyst Brands. JCPenney, which was bought by Simon Property ($SPG) in 2020, joins several other private label companies in this combination. Among them are Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Lucky Brand, and Nautica. With all of these brands under one roof, Catalyst Brands is a major player in the department store sector.
Leading Catalyst Brands is JCPenney CEO Marc Rosen. He will oversee the 1,800 stores and 60,000 employees that it controls. Additionally, Catalyst Brands launches with $1 billion in liquidity. Assisting Rosen chief operating officer Kevin Harper and chief customer and marketing officer Marisa Thalberg. Harper is a former Walmart ($WMT) executive while Thalberg was JCPenney’s consulting chief marketing and brand officer.
Catalyst Brands Sells Some Units
Catalyst Brands also announced the sale of Reebok alongside its merger with JCPenney. Rebook was owned by Authentic Brands, which is part of the strategic alliance behind Sparc. The company is also considering strategic options for Forever 21, another of Authentic Brands and Simon Property’s collaborations.
One thing this merger doesn’t affect is the intellectual properties owned by Authentic Brands, as those are only licensed to Sparc. It also bears mentioning that the strategic alliance behind Sparc also includes investment management company Brookfield Corporation ($BN) and e-commerce fashion retailer Shein.
Is SPG Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, the analysts’ consensus rating for Simon Property is Hold based on three Buy and 10 Hold ratings over the last three months. With that comes an average price target of $178.65, a high of $198, and a low of $150. This represents a potential 2.27% upside for SPG shares.
