Ft. Worth-based Private equity firm Texas Pacific Group and its partner Warburg Pincus are close to a deal to acquire luxury retailer Neiman Marcus Group Inc. for about $5 billion ($100 a share). The deal would be the latest in a trend of recent big buyouts in the U.S. retail industry.
The deal includes 35 Neiman Marcus stores and two Bergdorf Goodman stores in New York. The Texas Pacific-Warburg venture apparently beat rival bids from Blackstone Group LP and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Bain Capital. Interestingly, no retailers made a bid on Neiman’s.
According to my wife — who is a shopping expert — Neiman’s is one of the most valuable brand names in American retail circles. Texas Pacific has experience in retailing after acquiring 85% of clothing retailer J.Crew in 1997, which my wife points out has become a first rate retailer since that time.