Jones receives updated bid for Barneys

NEW YORK Jones Apparel Group Inc. today announced that it has received an updated proposal from Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. to acquire Jones' wholly owned subsidiary Barneys New York Inc. The proposal, which confirmed the purchase price of $900 million in cash contained in Fast's initial proposal, included a form of stock purchase agreement and is not subject to a due diligence condition. Jones is currently in discussions with Fast regarding its proposal. In the event that Jones were to terminate its stock purchase agreement with affiliates of Istithmar in order to allow it to enter into an agreement with Fast, Jones would be required to pay to an affiliate of Istithmar a termination fee of $22.7 million.