*http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200707070108.html
Uniqlo global plan includes Barneys THE ASAHI SHIMBUN* Fast Retailing Co.'s 110-billion-yen bid for Barneys New York Inc. would be a major step forward to founder Tadashi Yanai's goal to more than double the clothier's group annual revenue to 1 trillion yen. The operator of Uniqlo Co. casual clothing chain announced Thursday night it has proposed to buy all the shares in Barneys in a rival bid to Istithmar, a Dubai government-affiliated investment company. In June, Jones Apparel Group Inc., which owns the U.S. luxury department store chain, agreed to sell it to Istithmar for about 100 billion yen. Still, the agreement allows Jones to consider third-party proposals until July 22. It is uncertain whether Jones will accept Fast Retailing's bid because it would have to pay $20.6 million (about 2.5 billion yen) in damages for breach of contract with Istithmar. Fast Retailing expects that the Barneys deal would help the company achieve 1 trillion yen in consolidated sales by 2010, the goal set by Yanai, chairman and president. The figure is more than double the 448.8 billion yen reported for the year ended August 2006. The Barneys deal, if it comes through, would follow Fast Retailing's smaller acquisitions of foreign apparel brands in recent years. In 2003, the retailer acquired a stake in Link Theory Holdings Co., the marketer of premium brands Theory and Helmut Lang, for about 7 billion yen. In 2005, it purchased Creations Nelson S.A.S., the French developer of the Comptoir des Cotonniers apparel brand, and Petit Vehicule S.A.S., the French developer of the Princesse tam.tam lingerie brand. The following year, the retailer launched a public tender offer for Giordano International Ltd., a Hong Kong casual clothing company, although it eventually abandoned the takeover bid. At a news conference in April, Yanai said Fast Retailing aimed to spend about 400 billion yen on mergers and acquisitions to accelerate its expansion. Another goal of buying out Barneys, established in 1923 and acquired by Jones in 2004, is to enhance Fast Retailing's brand recognition in overseas markets. The mainstay Uniqlo brand has established itself in the Japanese market, but Fast Retailing is yet to build a profile abroad. The Uniqlo brand was introduced into the U.S. market in 2005, but its business performances have been stagnant. Fast Retailing plans to open stores in London and Paris following Uniqlo USA Inc.'s flagship store in New York, which opened in 2006. Rather than building the Uniqlo brand from scratch, the company hopes that by acquiring strong brands it will be able to accelerate the growth of its profile in overseas markets. Fast Retailing's bid for Barneys, meanwhile, would not include Barneys Japan Co., the licensed operator of three Barneys New York outlets in Tokyo and Yokohama. Isetan Co., a major department store operator, sold its wholly owned subsidiary Barneys Japan to trading house Sumitomo Corp. and Tokio Marine Capital Co., a private equity firm, in 2006. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
