Neiman Marcus in takeover?

US luxury retailer Neiman Marcus Group Inc. is close to concluding a deal in which it will be taken over by two private equity firms, according to Reuters. The deal is reputedly valued at approximately $5 billion (GBP 2.84 billion), say sources familiar with the situation.

The Dallas-based retailer is to be bought by the Texas Pacific Group and Warburg Pincus LLC, who won the auction with a bid that valued Neiman Marcus at approximately $100 a share. The two buy-out firms beat other bidders including the consortium Bain Capital and Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts and a third team consisting of the Blackstone Group and Thomas H. Lee.

Reuters reported that the deal has not yet been finalized and that other parties can still approach with another offer. This potential deal is one in a stream of mergers in the retail industry. Jones Apparel Group Inc. acquired Barneys New York and the Federated Department Stores Inc. agreed to purchase rival May Department Stores Inc. Last week Saks Inc. announced that it would sell two regional department stores to Belk Inc. for $622 million.

Neiman Marcus, which operates not only its namesake stores but also the more specialised Bergdorf Goodman chain, has enjoyed six consecutive quarters of sales growth at stores open longer than a year. The company announced that it expected same store revenues to rise 5 per cent to 6 per cent in the third quarter.