J. C. Penney Company, Inc. announced that it has reached an agreement in principle to sell JCPenney through a court-supervised sale process. The Company plans to seek approval of a disclosure statement and, ultimately, confirmation of a plan of reorganization in parallel with the sale process. Related to the sale process, JCPenney expects to execute a “stalking horse” asset purchase agreement, which will track an executed letter of intent, outlining the following: *Brookfield Property Group and Simon Property Group intend to acquire substantially all of JCPenney’s retail and operating assets for $1.75 billion, which includes a combination of cash and new term loan debt. *The agreement contemplates the formation of a separate real estate investment trust and a property holding company, which will include 161 of the Company’s real estate assets and all of its owned distribution centers. The PropCos will be owned by the Company’s Ad Hoc Group of First Lien Lenders. *The OpCo and PropCos will enter into a master lease with respect to the properties and distribution centers moved into the PropCos.

L Brands, Inc. reported net sales increased 4 percent to $751.6 million for the four weeks ended May 5, 2018, compared to net sales of $719.6 million for the four weeks ended April 29, 2017. Comparable sales for the four weeks ended May 5, 2018, were flat compared to the four weeks ended May 6, 2017, and were negatively impacted by the earlier Easter holiday this year by about 3 percentage points. The company reported net sales of $2.626 billion for the first quarter ended May 5, 2018, an increase of 8 percent compared to sales of $2.437 billion for the quarter ended April 29, 2017. Comparable sales for the first quarter ended May 5, 2018, increased 3 percent compared to the thirteen weeks ended May 6, 2017.

Simon & Schuster president and CEO Jonathan Karp has acquired a new book to be written by veteran investigative reporter and bestselling author Bob Woodward and fellow Washington Post political reporter Robert Costa. The book will examine the last days of the Trump presidency and the beginning of the Biden administration. Woodward and Costa were represented by Robert Barnett, who negotiated the deal with Karp. S&S acquired world, audio, and first series rights to the book. Karp will also edit the book, which is untitled and has no publication date.