Jones Apparel and Istithmar sign definitive agreement
After receiving amended offers from two prospective buyers—Fast Retailing and Istithmar—for its luxury retail chain Barneys earlier this week, Jones Apparel Group, Inc. has now signed an amended definitive stock purchase agreement to sell the chain to Dubai-based private equity company Istithmar for $942.3 million in cash, subject to certain purchase price adjustments.
Under the terms of the amended agreement Jones is permitted to terminate the Istithmar agreement to accept an offer from Fast Retailing if the company's board of directors determines that an offer from Fast is a “superior transaction". It also allows Fast Retailing to make one more offer.
Barneys New York, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jones Apparel Group, Inc., is a luxury retailer with flagship stores in
