P.M. BRIEFING : Campeau to Sell Bloomingdale’s to Help Cut Its Heavy Debt Load

Canada’s Campeau Corp. said today it will sell the stylish Bloomingdale’s department store chain it acquired last year, to help cut its heavy debt load.

Campeau also said it may borrow $212 million from Olympia & York Developments Ltd. to get through its current cash squeeze.

Campeau said it is discussing a financial restructuring with Olympia, which has a 12% stake in the retail and real estate company.

Campeau said it will present its board of directors a detailed plan Tuesday on how to cut its $9.5- billion U.S. debt. The Toronto-based company’s debt was swollen by its $6.6-billion U.S. takeover of Federated Department Stores Inc. in April, 1988.

It said it had retained the New York investment bank First Boston Corp. to help sell the Bloomingdale’s unit.

Chairman Robert Campeau said in July that Bloomingdale’s is worth more than $2 billion but at the time he said he had no plans to sell the chain and its flagship store in Manhattan.

Some analysts said that Bloomingdale’s was Campeau’s crown jewel and that a sale was unlikely unless the parent company was in difficult straits. Marvin Traub, Bloomingdale’s president and chief executive officer, has said he is interested in participating in a possible buyout of the department store chain.