A Japanese banker said to be familiar with the thinking of Tadashi Yanai, ceo of Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. (Yamaguchi, Japan), told The Reuters News Agency that the executive “would not pay $5 billion for J.Crew.”
Fast Retailing has reportedly been talking to The J.Crew Group Inc. (New York) about a possible acquisition since Crew announced it was considering an IPO or other options after three years of ownership by TPG Capital (Fort Worth, Texas) and Leonard Green & Partners (Los Angeles).
At the time, Crew was evaluated at close to $5 billion.
In 2007, Fast Retailing pursued the acquisition of luxury retailer Barneys New York, but eventually walked away when bidding surpassed its $900 million offer.
Bloomberg News has reported that the South Korean fashion conglomerate E.Land Group (Seoul) is also exploring a deal for J.Crew, as is buyout fund Advent International Corp. (Boston).