Neiman Sale Approved

NEWTON, MA-Shareholders of Neiman Marcus Group overwhelmingly approved a $5.1 million buyout bid by a private equity group during a special meeting held Tuesday at the Marriott Hotel in Newton, MA, where the chain’s controlling shareholders, the Smith family, are located.

Only a handful of shareholders representing about 74.3% of the total number of outstanding shares were on hand for the vote.

Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders in the upscale retailer’s stock will get $100 per share as part of the buyout. According to a regulatory filing, the buyers will retain the retailers top management team and have offered executives a chance to convert a portion of their current equity interests into equity in the surviving company. The merger is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The Dallas-based retailer announced in May that an entity owned by a group of private equity funds including Warburg Pincus LLC, of New York, and Texas Pacific Group, of Fort Worth, TX, had agreed to pay $5.1 billion for Nieman’s, which owns 36 upscale stores under its flagship name and two stores under the Bergdorf Goodman banner. The company’s operations also include Neiman Marcus Direct, which handles the firm’s catalogue and online operations.

Shortly after Neiman’s announced the deal, the NECA-IBEW Pension Fund filed a complaint in federal court in Dallas claiming that the buyout did not give enough value to the fund and to other shareholders in the company. That lawsuit is still pending.

Texas Pacific, which has more than $20 billion under management, counts among its investments Petco, J.Crew, Burger King and America West, among others. Warburg Pincus, which invests in a variety of industries including real estate, business services, media and health care, has about $13 billion under management.