Business

EXCLUSIVE: Starwood’s Barry Sternlicht makes bid for Saks Fifth Avenue parent

A new bidder has emerged for the company that owns Saks Fifth Avenue — and he’s mainly interested in the Fifth Avenue part.

Barry Sternlicht — the New York real-estate titan who created the W Hotels chain — has submitted a bid for the swanky department-store chain, The Post has learned.

While the size of the bid couldn’t be learned, one source said Sternlicht has offered between $17 and $18 a share, roughly equal to an offer from Hudson’s Bay, the Canada-based owner of Lord & Taylor which is equal to roughly $2.5 billion.

A second source, however, cautioned that the figure may represent the final price the bidders would be willing to pay to close a deal. Initial bids, according to the source, may have come in lower, in the $15 to $16 range.

However, Sternlichet may be emerging as the surprise leader in what is shaping up as a three-horse race as his bid, sources said.

That’s partly because Sternlicht, unlike Hudson’s Bay, envisions Saks CEO Steve Sadove remaining in his role.

A third bidder, believed to be a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund, most likely based in the oil-rich Persian Gulf state of Qatar, is said to be also in the running.

As exclusively reported by The Post, the Qataris were in advanced talks to acquire Neiman Marcus this spring. Those talks cooled, spurring Neiman to file for a public stock offering last month.

“Barry is salivating over the Fifth Avenue flagship,” according to a source close to Sternlicht, noting that the retailer’s famous store next to St. Patrick’s Cathedral has been valued by some analysts at upwards of $1 billion.

Representatives for Saks and Sternlicht didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The sales process is being overseen by Goldman Sachs.

Saks owns about two-thirds of its stores nationwide, and the value of its real-estate holdings alone is estimated to be at least $1.5 billion.

Saks shares Friday afternoon recently traded at $14.66, down 2 cents, giving the company a market capitalization just under $2.5 billion.

Sternlicht, sources said, has floated a plan that would split Saks’ real-estate holdings from the company, an arrangement that could potentially force Saks to rent the stores it currently owns.

That could generate short-term gains, but it’s also a risky move that could pressure the profitability Saks, even as it continues to a multiyear struggle to raise its operating margins.

“The company would be taking on a lot of debt, and this could exacerbate the situation for the stores,” according to one source.

Nevertheless, in addition to keeping his job under a Sternlicht purchase, Sadove would collect a change-of-control payout worth upwards of $20 million, according to insiders.

“Steve has made no secret of the fact that he has enjoyed being CEO of Saks,” a source said of Sadove.

Hudson’s Bay chairman Richard Baker, a New York real-estate mogul who previously had been viewed as the most likely winner in an auction of Saks, already has a strong bench of retail execs that would likely take over Sadove’s duties, sources noted.

Baker, according to one source, “is a shrewd customer and won’t overpay.”

Despite what appears to be a three-way race, it’s not certain how serious the third bidder is.

jcovert@nypost.com