<div><p>(Reuters) - Supermarket mogul Ron Burkle and his investment arm, Yucaipa, have purchased a large amount of U.S. luxury retail chain Barneys New York's debt, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.</p><p>Citigroup Inc <C.N> sold a big part of Barneys' secured term loan to Burkle at about 60 cents on the dollar, the people told the paper.</p><p>Yucaipa also bought a big part of Barneys' subordinated debt, the paper cited one person familiar with the matter as saying.</p><p>Spokesmen for Yucaipa, Citigroup and Barneys could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters.</p><p>Barneys, which is owned by Dubai's Istithmar World Capital, hired restructuring advisory firm Perella Weinberg earlier this year to help it mull options that would shore up its financial position.</p><p>The luxury chain, with stores in cities like New York and Chicago, has struggled in the recession as even wealthy consumers have cut back on spending.</p><p>Istithmar, a unit of Dubai World <DBWLD.UL>, bought Barneys for $942 million from Jones Apparel Group <JNY.N> in 2007. It provided some additional funding to the chain in April, allowing it to pay for its shipments for the rest of the year.</p><p>(Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=63805051&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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