by Abigail Summerville and Svea Herbst-Bayliss

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Macy’s has agreed to open its books to the consortium of investors bringing together Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, a reversal in the takeover project and delisting of the American department store chain for 6.6 billion dollars (6.07 billion euros).

A Macy’s spokesperson confirmed that a confidentiality agreement has been signed with the real estate investment group and the asset manager, allowing the exchange of sensitive business data. Macy’s had rebuffed previous approaches from the consortium.

Arkhouse and Brigade declined requests for comment.

This audit could allow Arkhouse and Brigade to obtain the financing promises necessary to carry out the operation, the sources said, while the two firms so far only have a letter from the investment bank Jefferies Financial Group in which it expresses its confidence in the provision of a loan for the takeover of Macy’s.

There is no guarantee at this time that the negotiations will result in a transaction, the sources said.

While they had offered, at the end of last year, $21 per share for the Macy’s shares that they do not yet hold, Arkhouse and Brigade have since raised their offer to $24 per share and declared that they were willing to offer even more.

Macy’s shares jumped 3% on Tuesday afternoon to $22.09 after the announcement of this confidentiality agreement, compared to $11 before the initial takeover offer sent by Arkhouse and Brigade was reported last year.

(Abigail Summerville in New York and Svea Herbst-Bayliss in Boston; Jean Terzian, edited by Bertrand Boucey)

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