Ascena Retail Group

Ascena Retail's July 2020 bankruptcy collapsed a conglomerate of women's retail brands: Ann Taylor, LOFT, Lane Bryant, Catherines, Lou & Grey. The company had been assembled through acquisitions, accumulating $1.3 billion in debt while managing disparate brands with little synergy. Each brand faced online competition; together they faced combined capital starvation. Ascena sold Ann Taylor/LOFT to Premium Apparel, Lane Bryant to Sycamore Partners. The failure demonstrated that retail roll-ups don't create value - they create complexity while each brand still faces its own competitive challenges.