Leonard Green to Buy Lucky Brand Jeans

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Leonard Green & Partners, the Westwood private equity firm that already has investments in retailers J. Crew and London’s Topshop, is getting deeper into denim, planning to buy Lucky Brand Jeans from New York’s publicly traded Fifth & Pacific Cos. for $225 million.

The two companies announced the deal Tuesday. Leonard Green did not immediately return calls for comment. The firm will pay $140 million in cash, with the remaining $85 million borrowed from Fifth & Pacific and due to be repaid in three years.

Fifth & Pacific, formerly known as Liz Claiborne before it sold that brand, now owns only the high-end Kate Spade fashion line and a developer of private-label jewelry for department stores.