Dive Brief:

• Marble Ridge on Wednesday demanded Neiman Marcus Group's Board of Directors drop counterclaims to its lawsuit by 3 p.m. central time on Friday, "given the obvious false premise of the allegations in the counterclaims," according to a letter, which was emailed to Retail Dive.

• In the letter, Marble Ridge contends that concerns from it and other creditors regarding Neiman Marcus' financial position are backed up by a Dec. 17 report from Covenant Review, a Fitch financial solutions service.

• According to parts of Covenant Review's report included in Marble Ridge's letter, there are a number of unanswered questions regarding the company's financial position. "[T]hus far the Company has not provided the full picture to investors seeking to understand how the Company was able to move the MyTheresa Business and the three real properties to Unrestricted Subsidiaries," the report stated. In response to the letter, Neiman Marcus told Retail Dive: "The Company stands by its claims against Marble Ridge."

Dive Insight:

Early this month, Marble Ridge set off a contentious power struggle between Neiman Marcus and its lenders over one of its most valuable assets — and its overall financial stability.

Marble Ridge's lawsuit charged the department store retailer with, among other things, the "fraudulent transfer" of its MyTheresa e-commerce business, which it said totaled an approximate value of $1 billion. Neiman Marcus Group shifted the unit's position within its umbrella in September to a corporate entity held by its private equity owners, Ares Capital Management and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Within a week of Marble Ridge's lawsuit filing, Neiman Marcus snapped back with a countersuit for alleged damages resulting from "a series of false public statements accusing the company of being in default under its agreements with its debtholders." It also reaffirmed its financial position. During a conference call regarding its fiscal first-quarter results on Dec. 6, CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck said the company has "ample runway to address our debt," adding that he's certain a "multi-beneficial solution can be reached" between it bondholders and lenders, when it comes to refinancing its debt. The company reiterated those points in its countersuit.

On-and-off talks, however, came to a halt at the beginning of the month without an agreement in place. Then, last week reports surfaced in Debtwire and Women's Wear Daily that a joint lawsuit could be filed against Neiman Marcus within the next 30 days from a group of the company's lenders.