Dallas, Texas, May 2-- Pacific Group and Warburg Pincus are negotiating to purchase the Neiman Marcus Group Inc., which includes a chain of 37 luxury department stores, for about $5 billion, according to published reports.
Neiman Marcus said last month it was considering selling the chain, which includes 35 Neiman Marcus stores and two Bergdorf Goodman stores. The Dallas-based company had a Friday deadline for bids.
The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the negotiations, said the company was near a deal with the private equity firms Sunday night. The New York Times, citing executives close to the negotiations, said a deal would be announced Monday.
"The play for us is a long-term play on the continued spending in the luxury segment. This is more a play on luxury than retail," Kewsong Lee, a Warburg Pincus partner, said in the Journal.
A spokesman for Texas Pacific declined to comment to The Associated Press Sunday night. Attempts to reach Neiman Marcus spokespeople by telephone for comment were not immediately successful.
Neiman Marcus closed at $98.32 per share on Friday.
There has been a flurry of retail acquisitions in the last few months, including Federated Department Stores Inc.'s proposed $11 billion (€8.5 billion) acquisition of May Department Stores Co., the $12.3 billion (€9.5 billion) merger of Kmart and Sears into Sears Holdings Corp., and Jones Apparel Group Inc.'s $294 million (€226.9 million) purchase of Barneys New York.
