Barneys Hires Restructuring Advisers
Barneys New York Inc., the swanky retailer known as a magnet for fashionistas, is headed for talks with lenders to get a handle on a debt load that stems from its 2007 takeover by Dubai investors.</br></br>In the past couple of weeks, Barneys has tapped bankruptcy and restructuring lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis, said people familiar with the matter, as the chain aims to rework its finances and keep a nascent turnaround on track.</br></br>Barneys, a niche company dwarfed by competitors Neiman Marcus Group Inc. and Saks Inc., needs to refinance a $200 million credit line that comes due in September. To do so, Barneys may need to reduce other debt mostly held by hedge-fund manager Richard Perry and supermarket magnate Ron Burkle.</br></br>The debt load is mostly the result of a private-equity takeover of the company five years ago that burdened it with an additional $500 million in debt.</br></br>Istithmar World, the investment arm of state-owned Dubai World, paid $942.3 million for Barneys in a buyout at the top of the market in 2007. Istithmar in early 2010 invested another $20 million to boost Barneys' coffers as it struggled in the wake of the recession.