J. Crew to be acquired in $3 billion buyout

New York City -- J. Crew Group on Tuesday agreed to be bought by two private-equity firms for about $3 billion. TPG Capital (a former owner of J. Crew) and Los Angeles-based Leonard Green & Partners will pay $43.50 a share in cash, according to a statement from the specialty retailer.



The purchase price is a 16% premium to the stock's closing price of $37.65 Monday.



"We are in this for the long term and we do what we do day in and day out so we can deliver the best possible products to our customers," Millard 'Mickey' Drexler, who will remain J.Crew's CEO, said in a statement. He added that working with the private equity firms "will enable us to invest in our future growth."



TPG was a previous owner of J. Crew, buying an 88% stake for about $500

million in 1997. The company later went public in 2006.



In other news, Crew said its third-quarter profit fell to $37.8 million, or 58 cents a share, from $43.9 million, or 67 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales rose 4% to $429.3 million, missing expectations. Same-store sales fell 1%.