Jones Apparel sets $400 million stock buyback

With its stock price near the lowest level in nine years, Jones Apparel Group Inc. of Bristol said yesterday that it planned to repurchase $400 million of its stock.

The company, which markets Jones New York, Anne Klein and Gloria Vanderbilt clothing and Nine West shoes, will buy back the stock using cash proceeds from the $945 million sale of its Barneys New York Inc. retail chain to an affiliate of Istithmar PJSC, an investment firm owned by the Dubai government.

Jones Apparel said it expected after-tax proceeds of $840 million from the transaction, which was completed yesterday. Proceeds also will be used to repay debt and for other corporate purposes, the company said.

The sale of Barneys, which Jones Apparel bought for $400 million in 2004, is part of Jones Apparel's effort to focus on its other brands.

Barneys is a luxury-fashion retailer.

The retailer has arranged for an accelerated share repurchase through Goldman, Sachs & Co. About 15.5 million shares will be received by Sept. 12, and the rest no later than July 19, the clothing-maker said in yesterday's announcement.

The company had 103.9 million shares outstanding as of Wednesday. It has about $700 million available for share repurchases under authorization by the company's board.

Shares fell 3 cents yesterday to close at $19.31 on the New York Stock Exchange. They are off 42 percent this year, and fell to $17.85 Aug. 16, the lowest close since October 1998.