Phillips-Van Heusen to Buy Tommy Hilfiger

Retail apparel giant Phillips-Van Heusen Corp. agreed to buy clothing company Tommy Hilfiger. The aqusition price is roughly $3 billion. The transaction will be the first major acquisition in retail circles in years.

Tommy Hilfiger is owned by London-based private-equity firm Apax Partners, which had been considering a Hilfiger initial public offering recently but put it on hold so they could go after the takeover deal.