It's possible that Istithmar, the private-equity arm of the Dubai government, is grimacing today, after news of a higher bid for Jones Apparel Group Inc's (NYSE: JNY) Barneys New York unit surfaced. Under the terms of their agreement, Jones is allowed to weigh other offers for the Barneys unit until July 22 and can explore bids for the entire company through August 11. Jones said Thursday it received an unsolicited bid from Japanese clothing company Fast Retailing Co Ltd to acquire Barneys for $900 million. That's a 9% premium over Istithmar's $825 million offer.

Fast Retailing, which owns stores in more than 12 countries, says owning Barneys New York would increase its market diversification and boost its revenue. The company recently expanded its Uniqlo casual clothing into the U.S., and said last year it would target the U.S. retail market for acquisitions. Fast Retailing sees "potential top-line synergies" in buying Barneys.

For Jones, though, analysts believe the upscale unit has allowed Jones to "lessen its dependence on selling its wholesale lines to department stores." Should Jones decide to break up the in-place deal with Istithmar, it will have to pay Dubai a $20.6 million breakup fee, or $22.7 million if terminated after July 22. So far, however, the deal is still on the table.

Either way, a purchase of Barneys would show the increasing desire for upscale retail, and the increasing desire of companies from countries like Dubai and Japan to further expand into the U.S. market.

Don't feel too badly for Istithmar if their Barneys deal falls through. The firm also reportedly has interests in clothing retailer Loehmann's Holdings, various commercial buildings in New York and London, and investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners.

Istithmar has competition in its quest to acquire Barneys from the Jones Apparel Group (NYSE: JNY). Japan's Fast Retailing Co has come forward with a $900 million bid, $75 million more than Jones had agreed to sell the unit for to the Dubai-based investment group.

Jones says it will begin talks with Fast Retailing. According to the Associated Press, "Headquartered in the western prefecture of Yamaguchi, Fast Retailing Co. operates the popular casual clothing chain Uniqlo. The retailer has expanded aggressively overseas, in such markets as Britain and continental Asia, with ambitions to challenge U.S.-based Gap Inc. It opened its global flagship Uniqlo store in New York City last September."

This should be interesting to follow, as investors from Japan and Dubai are battling for Barneys New York. Fast Retailing's offer is about 9% better than the agreement with Istithmar, and could lead to higher valuations for other high-end department stores like Bloomingdales, owned by Macys (NYSE: M).

Shares of Jones New York are up about 5% in pre-market trading.

Analysts are expecting Jones Apparel Group Inc (NYSE: JNY) to announce a sale of upscale fashion retail chain Barneys New York any minute now. Sources have indicated Jones CEO Peter Boneparth is looking to sell the chain because of a decline in the company's stock price -- shares closed yesterday at $28.36, while trading in January for over $35. Additionally, having failed to sell the entire company nearly a year ago, Mr. Boneparth may be looking to take advantage of the highly competitive market for luxury goods.

Because of the desire for luxury goods, Barneys has been sought after by publicly-traded companies as well as private-equity groups. There is strong market speculation that Istithmar, the investment arm of the Dubai government, could be the victor in the race for Barneys. Istithmar has a global real estate portfolio valued around $7 billion, including owning apparel retailer Loehmann's Holdings, and has been in hot pursuit of other U.S. properties over the past year. Sources close to the matter believe Istithmar could offer around $825 million for Barneys.

In addition to Istithmar, rumors swirled recently that Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom Inc (NYSE: JWN) had been interested in the chain and considered making bids around in the $800 million to $850 million range price, but dropped out when both companies believed the price would escalate too high, perhaps as far as $1.4 billion.

A sale of Barneys would likely come, as the New York Times reported, as a "partial victory" for Mr. Boneparth. He had been oft criticized that he paid too high a price in 2004 for the chain, but may have the last laugh if the sale price turns out to be nearly twice as high.