Deal to sell 120 J.C. Penney stores for $950M falls through

Core Insights - A deal to sell over 100 J.C. Penney stores to Onyx Partners has been terminated, as indicated by a regulatory filing from the Copper Property CTL Pass Through Trust [1][4] Group 1: Deal Overview - Onyx Partners was set to acquire 119 J.C. Penney stores for $947 million, with an average price of $8 million per property, which is $2 million lower than previous sales by Copper [2][3] - The trust was established during J.C. Penney's 2020 bankruptcy to manage leases of 160 stores and six distribution centers, with the goal of selling the real estate to third-party buyers [2] Group 2: Delays and Termination - The closing date for the sale was initially set for September but faced multiple delays, with the most recent date pushed to December 22 [2][4] - The agreement stipulates that the deal will be terminated if the closing does not occur by December 26 [4] Group 3: Market Reactions and Speculations - Experts suggest several reasons for the deal's failure, including potential hesitance from lenders or the buyer due to the underlying real estate value or J.C. Penney's performance [5] - J.C. Penney's sales have been declining throughout the year, although there was a slight improvement in Q2 attributed to better markdown management and effective tariff mitigation [5]