, to buy the embattled teen apparel retailer Aeropostale. And just earlier this year, Brookfield, Simon and Authentic Brands Group acquired the clothing chain Forever 21 out of bankruptcy court.
Brookfield said the $5 billion initiative announced Thursday will be led by Ron Bloom, managing partner and vice chairman of Brookfield's private-equity arm. As a former restructuring banker at Lazard, Bloom is known for serving a major role during the 2008 financial crisis on the U.S. government's auto task force.
"This initiative is being designed to assist medium-sized enterprises in getting back on their feet," Bloom said in a statement. "We believe this is a critical component to getting the economy moving again, and we would like to partner with companies and entrepreneurs that can draw on our capital and expertise to stabilize and grow their business."
Brookfield said it will be focused on funding retailers that were bringing in normalized revenue of at least $250 million pre-Covid-19, and that have been operating for at least two years.