Barneys New York may soon gain a new retail sibling: Lord & Taylor.
As Barneys’ owners in Dubai grapple with a debt crisis, at least one of the luxury chain’s key bondholders has reached out to potential operating partners including NRDC — the New York-based real estate firm that owns Lord & Taylor, sources told The Post.
Hedge-fund tycoon Richard Perry and billionaire Ron Burkle — who together own nearly all the $500 million in debt that Dubai-based Istithmar sold when it acquired Barneys for $942 million in 2007 — are said to be bracing for a possible post-Christmas bankruptcy filing at Barneys, sources said.
A bankruptcy is “unlikely in the near term” because business of late has been good and Barneys’ operations are self-funding, according to a source close to the New York retail icon.
Nevertheless, Istithmar recently has begun to accept huge losses in order to exit failed investments, including the W Hotel at Union Square this week.
If the economy takes another turn for the worse, Istithmar may be forced to either take a loss on Barneys or inject more cash to keep pricey shoes, handbags and designer clothes flowing to stores.
Meanwhile, however, sources said Perry and Burkle aren’t interested in running Barneys, either. That’s despite the fact that Perry’s wife, Lisa, is a fashion designer and Burkle has previously taken an active role in other trendy fashion ventures like the boutique Scoop and designer Zac Posen.
Sources said Perry and Burkle aren’t working together on Barneys — indeed, the pair are wary of each other, partly because of bad blood over Burkle’s sparring with Perry’s close friend Eddie Lampert during the restructuring of the latter’s Sears and Kmart chains.
Nevertheless, sources said Burkle’s investment firm Yucaipa has contacted potential investors including NRDC and TPG — the private-equity firm that partnered to take Neiman Marcus private in 2005 for $5 billion.
“They’re asking, ‘What are we going to do with [Barneys] if we end up owning it?’ ” according to one source close to the talks.
NRDC’s CEO, the Big Apple real estate tycoon Richard Baker, has long eyed Barneys as a potential crown jewel for his young but fast-growing retail empire, sources said. Baker acquired Lord & Taylor in 2006 and scooped up Canada-based Hudson’s Bay last year.
But despite his appetite, the shrewd dealmaker “doesn’t pay retail” when it comes to buying retail chains, one industry insider noted.
Meanwhile, Burkle — who reportedly paid 60 cents on the dollar for his half of Barneys’ debt — would be “pushing the envelope” if he were looking to turn his investment around for a quick profit, according to one source.
As such, the most likely scenario would be for NRDC’s Baker to join Perry and Burkle by taking a long-term equity stake in the reorganized company while also lending operational resources, from back-office staff to warehouses.
Meanwhile, the key role for Burkle — who has old business ties with Dubai — may be to sweet-talk Istithmar into handing over the reins to Barneys and curtail the impasse that has left the chain without a CEO for a year and a half.
Burkle “thought he might have an advantage in dealing with the Arabs” as he moved this fall to amass Barneys debt previously owned by Citigroup, according to one source.