Barneys Is Sold for $825 Million
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/23/business/23barneys.html

The clothing retailer Barneys New York, a temple to fashion
that introduced Americans to Armani and $300 T-shirts,
was sold yesterday to the investment arm of the Dubai government
for $825 million.

The deal for Barneys, whose founder pawned his wife’s
engagement ring to start it 84 years ago, represents
a trophy for Istithmar, the arm of the Dubai government.

It has been on a buying spree in the United States,
purchasing a raft of high-profile businesses and real estate,
like stakes in the retailer Loehmann’s Holdings and the
investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners.

Unlike Saks Fifth Avenue or Neiman Marcus, Barneys never
became a household name or a megabusiness. Despite cameos
in “Sex in the City” and Vogue, it remained exclusive —
its reach largely confined to the two coasts and a crowd of
the ultra-fashionable.

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