Jones Group is seeking to unload Barneys after buying it for $400 mil in 04. Price tag rumors vary from $800 million to $1billion by some Middle Eastern oil magnate. I say we chip in and buy it ourselves. Than we could just walk into any Barneys and take whatever we want.
Stymied by an inert stock price, Jones Apparel CEO Peter Boneparth is
reported to be considering the sale of luxury department store chain
Barneys New York, the company's best-performing asset. Barney's
is not yet on the market and Jones has declined to comment in advance
of earnings, which will be reported Wednesday. The 2004 purchase of
Barneys for $400 million was questioned by analysts as inconsistent
with Jones's moderate portfolio, which includes Nine West and Gloria
Vanderbilt. Barneys has thrived, however, vindicating Boneparth's
advocacy of the high-end purchase. If Jones sells Barneys, it can use
the proceeds to buy back stock, invest in brands or buy new ones. A
sale could also, however, make Jones even more vulnerable to weakness
in the moderate apparel sector. It would come at a difficult time for
the company: Boneparth just fired Heather Pech, the head of the retail
division; CFO Thimios Sotos resigned last month; and Boneparth himself
has failed to reach a contract extension agreement with the company.
Boneparth attempted last year to sell the whole company to a private
equity firm, a move that ended ignominiously five months later when the
auction was canceled due to insufficient bids.
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