Business

Saks hires Sachs, eyes possible sale

Saks is gearing up for its biggest sale ever — but it won’t be happening at your local mall.

The owner of the swanky Saks Fifth Avenue chain has hired Goldman Sachs to explore strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company, The Post has learned.

The news, first reported yesterday at nypost.com, sent Saks shares surging in after-market trades to their highest levels in more than five years.

Saks is expected to attract bids from big private-equity firms such as KKR and Leonard Green & Partners, sources said.

It’s also likely that Saks will be shopped to sovereign-wealth funds in the Middle East and Asia, according to people briefed on the situation.

“This is a trophy name, and a lot of people would like to own it whether it’s a great investment or not,” one person close to the process said.

Although Goldman has been retained, another source indicated that “this is very, very early in a long, long process,” and that the timing of a potential sale hasn’t yet been finalized.

“It is our long-standing policy not to comment on rumors or speculation,” said Saks spokeswoman Julia Bentley.

Investors have long speculated that Saks — whose CEO, Steve Sadove, has won praise for slashing debt and sprucing up stores — might put itself on the block.

Skeptics note that there’s little room to expand the 41-store chain, and Sadove has signaled he plans to close a handful of laggard stores over the next year.

Still, bulls point out that the retailer still has plenty of room to grow its operating margins, which remain well short of historical highs.

Some speculated yesterday that Saks could fetch between $18 and $20 a share, giving it a takeout price between $2.6 billion and $2.9 billion.

Saks owns about two-thirds of the stores in its chain, and its real-estate alone is estimated to be worth upward of $1.5 billion. Indeed, some analysts have valued the company’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue at more than $1 billion.

Shares of the retailer spiked 11.3 percent yesterday, to $13.67, giving it a market capitalization of $1.97 billion.

Following The Post’s 4:03 p.m. report, the luxury retailer’s stock soared as much as 20 percent, passing the $16 mark, in after-market trades.