Lord & Taylor sold

Federated announced the sale of Lord & Taylor to a property development firm for $1.2b.

Federated said that its board has approved the sale to Purchase, N.Y.-based NRDC Equity Partners LLC, which is a partnership between principals of Apollo Real Estate Advisors L.P. and principals of National Realty & Development Corp.

Given the nature of the acquirers, this would appear on the surface to be a real estate play, and L&T occupies some good real estate. NRDC denies it:

NRDC said it plans to run Lord & Taylor as a specialty department store chain and to keep L&T's management team, including CEO Jane Elfers.

Well, they sorta deny it:

Richard Baker, president of NRDC Equity Partners, said in separate release that the acquisition of L&T "furthers "NRDC's strategy of acquiring great companies that have a strong brand and a valuable real estate platform."

"Lord & Taylor has been an iconic national brand for 180 years. We believe there is significant opportunity to continue the revitalization of the brand begun in 2003," Baker said.

So which is it? An "opportunity to continue the revitalization of the brand" or "a valuable real estate platform"?

I'll go with this sentence: "Analysts say the retailer's most valuable asset is its real estate, particularly its 10-story, 600,000-square-foot flagship store on Fifth Avenue." $1.2b looks like a bargain.