Investing.com — Personal-equity group Sycamore Companions is contemplating a possible bid to buy division retailer chain Macy’s (NYSE:), based on a report within the New York Put up.

Citing sources, the paper mentioned that Sycamore, the proprietor of retail manufacturers like Ann Taylor and Talbots, has been in negotiations with Macy’s since not less than late December.

The New York Put up added that some trade insiders imagine Sycamore has the monetary backing and savvy to safe the deal.

Shares in Macy’s rose in early buying and selling on Thursday.

The report comes after Macy’s rejected a $5.8 billion take personal bid from investing agency Arkhouse and hedge fund Brigade earlier this month.

In a press release on Sunday, the retailer mentioned it had reviewed the unsolicited provide, however discovered that Arkhouse and Brigade had not supplied adequate data to deal with its considerations round their potential to finance the proposed transaction.

Macy’s added that it had requested Jefferies, the monetary advisor for the buyout group, for updates round Arkhouse and Brigade’s plans to fund the deal earlier this month, however “no further data” was supplied. Nonetheless, Arkhouse mentioned Jefferies had supplied a “extremely assured letter” supporting its declare that it had the cash essential to fund the proposal.

Widely known as a mainstay of buying malls, Macy’s has been dealing with heavy stress from activist traders to discover a sale, as its brick-and-mortar places battle to maintain up with digital opponents. Arkhouse and Brigade had beforehand proposed shopping for the shares of Macy’s it doesn’t already personal for $21 a share.

Outgoing Macy’s Chief Govt Jeff Gennette mentioned the agency stays open to exploring different alternatives.

In the meantime, media stories final week mentioned the corporate is ready to scale back headcount and shutter places in a bid to chop prices and streamline its enterprise. The stories mentioned 2,350 roles — amounting to three.5% of its workforce — might be slashed, whereas 5 shops might be shuttered.

Macy’s employed 94,570 full- and part-time workers and operated 722 retailer places as of January 2023.

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