* Barneys' owner sees chain meeting 2009 shipment plans
* Says no further injection to Barneys needed at this time
(Adds background)
NEW YORK, April 14 The Dubai investment vehicle
that owns Barneys New York Inc threw the high-end retailer a
lifeline on Tuesday that will allow it to pay for its shipments
for the rest of the year.
The capital injection came a day after ratings agency
Standard & Poor's cut Barneys to a deeply distressed level and
warned that vendors may tighten terms or limit shipments.
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Istithmar World Capital, owned by the Dubai government,
said in a statement on Tuesday that it had provided "a
significant level of additional capital to support Barneys New
York", but it did not specify the amount. A spokeswoman was not
immediately available to comment.
Earlier this month, the New York Post reported that
Istithmar planned to inject at least $10 million into the
retailer, which would allow it to pay down its revolving credit
facility and free up cash to help it ride out the recession.
The luxury retailer, with stores in New York, Beverly
Hills, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, San Francisco and Las Vegas,
caters to wealthy clients.
In addition, the company operates two regional stores, 18
Barneys New York CO-OP stores, and 13 outlet stores, and
employs 2,200 people.
"We will continue to monitor the company's performance but
we are confident that no further injection is needed at this
time," David Jackson, chief executive of Istithmar World
Capital, said in the statement.
Istithmar bought Barneys for $942 million from Jones
Apparel Group Inc JNY.N in 2007, when luxury retailers were
ringing in hefty sales. But the financial crisis has wiped out
much of that demand, hurting other high-end chains like Saks
Inc SKS.N and Nordstrom Inc (JWN.N).
Saks saw sales at stores open at least a year fall 23.6
percent in March, while Nordstrom's same-store sales fell 13.5
percent.
(Reporting by Martinne Geller; Editing by Andre Grenon, Toni
Reinhold)