Claire's Stores, Inc. Announces Agreement to be Acquired by Apollo Management, L.P. for Approximately $3.1 Billion or $33 Per Share

    PEMBROKE PINES, Fla., March 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Claire's
 Stores, Inc. ( CLE), a leading international specialty retailer
 offering value priced costume jewelry and accessories, announced today that
 it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an affiliate
 of Apollo Management, L.P., a New York based private equity firm.
     Under the terms of the agreement, Claire's Stores, Inc. shareholders
 will receive $33 in cash for each share of Claire's Stores, Inc. common
 stock or Class A common stock that they hold, which represents a
 transaction value of approximately $3.1 billion.
     Claire's Co-Chairmen and Co-CEO's Bonnie Schaefer and Marla Schaefer in
 a joint statement noted that, "The decision to sell the company that our
 father founded was reached after an enormous amount of soul searching over
 time and brings our strategic review to a successful conclusion. After
 reviewing the final bids, our Board of Directors unanimously concluded,
 after in-depth consideration, that this transaction with Apollo is in the
 best interests of our shareholders. We also believe that a partnership with
 Apollo will create an abundance of opportunities to leverage the strong
 U.S. brand that we have created over the years and to continue its
 evolution into an even stronger global brand. Apollo's desire to add
 Claire's to its portfolio serves as a testament to our solid business
 model, our unrivaled niche and the talent of our people."
     Peter Copses, a Senior Partner at Apollo, said, "We are extremely
 pleased to be acquiring this premier specialty retailer. We look forward to
 partnering with Claire's management team and employees, who have done an
 outstanding job creating a market leader, to build on the many strengths of
 the Company. We believe that the increased flexibility available to a
 private company will enable Claire's to capitalize on the many
 opportunities before it, both here and abroad. We have a long track record
 of successful investment in the retail industry and are firmly committed to
 Claire's continued growth as a highly successful global specialty
 retailer."
     The Schaefer family, which owns a significant percentage of the voting
 power of the equity of Claire's Stores, Inc., has entered into a separate
 agreement to vote its shares in favor of the merger.
     Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing
 conditions, including regulatory review and the approval of the transaction
 by Claire's Stores, Inc.'s shareholders.
     Goldman, Sachs & Co. acted as the financial advisor to Claire's Stores,
 Inc. in connection with the strategic review and transaction. In addition,
 Peter J. Solomon Company provided a fairness opinion to the Board of
 Directors of Claire's Stores, Inc. in connection with the transaction.
 Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal advisor to Claire's Stores,
 Inc. in connection with the transaction. Tri-Artisan Partners acted as
 financial advisor to Apollo with respect to certain matters, Morgan, Lewis
 & Bockius acted as Apollo's legal advisor and Bear Stearns, Credit Suisse
 and Lehman Brothers will be providing financing to Apollo in connection
 with this transaction.
     About Claire's Stores, Inc.:
     Claire's Stores, Inc. is a leading international specialty retailer
 offering value-priced costume jewelry and accessories to fashion-aware
 tweens, teens and young adult females through its two store concepts:
 Claire's and Icing by Claire's. While the latter operates only in North
 America, Claire's operates internationally. As of March 3, 2007, Claire's
 Stores, Inc. operated approximately 3,000 stores in the United States,
 Canada, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the United Kingdom, Ireland,
 France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Holland and
 Belgium. Claire's Stores, Inc. operates through its subsidiary, Claire's
 Nippon, Co., Ltd., approximately 195 stores in Japan as a 50:50 joint
 venture with AEON, Co., Ltd. (fka JUSCO, Co. Ltd.), a $40 billion specialty
 retailer headquartered in Japan. The Company also licenses approximately
 120 stores in the Middle East and Turkey under a licensing and
 merchandising agreement with Al Shaya Co., Ltd. and eight stores in South
 Africa under similar agreements with The House of Busby Limited.
     About Apollo Management, L.P.:
     Apollo Management is a private investment partnership that manages a
 pool of investment capital on behalf of a group of institutional investors
 and the principals of Apollo. Since its inception in 1990, Apollo has
 invested in excess of $16 billion of equity capital in companies
 representing a wide variety of industries, both in the U.S. and
 internationally. Apollo is currently in the process of investing its sixth
 corporate fund, Apollo Investment Fund VI, L.P., which, with its related
 affiliates, has committed capital of approximately $12 billion. In
 addition, Apollo has had several highly successful partnerships with
 management teams operating retail and consumer-oriented businesses in the
 past, including investments in Linens 'n Things, General Nutrition Centers,
 AMC Entertainment, Ralphs Grocery Company, Dominick's Supermarkets, Inc.,
 Zale Corporation, Rent-A-Center, Inc. and Proffitt's Department Stores.
     Important Legal Information:
     In connection with the proposed merger, the Company will prepare a
 proxy statement to be filed with the SEC. When completed, a definitive
 proxy statement and a form of proxy will be mailed to the shareholders of
 the Company. Before making any voting decision, the Company's shareholders
 are urged to read the proxy statement regarding the merger carefully and in
 its entirety because it will contain important information about the
 proposed merger. The Company's shareholders will be able to obtain, without
 charge, a copy of the proxy statement (when available) and other relevant
 documents filed with the SEC from the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov.
 The Company's shareholders will also be able to obtain, without charge, a
 copy of the proxy statement and other relevant documents (when available)
 by directing a request by mail or telephone to Corporate Secretary,
 Claire's Stores, Inc., 3 S.W. 129 Avenue, Pembroke Pines, FL 33027,
 telephone: 954-433 3900, or from the Company's website,
 http://www.claires.com.
     The Company and its directors and officers may be deemed to be
 participants in the solicitation of proxies from the Company's shareholders
 with respect to the proposed merger. Information about the Company's
 directors and executive officers and their ownership of the Company's
 common stock is set forth in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for
 the fiscal year ended January 28, 2006 and the Company's proxy statement
 for the Company's 2006 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Shareholders may
 obtain additional information regarding the interests of the Company and
 its directors and executive officers in the merger, which may be different
 than those of the Company's shareholders generally, by reading the proxy
 statement and other relevant documents regarding the proposed merger, when
 filed with the SEC.
     Forward-Looking Statements:
     This communication contains "forward-looking statements" which
 represent the current expectations and beliefs of management of Claire's
 Stores, Inc. (the "Company") concerning the proposed merger of the Company
 with an affiliate of Apollo Management, L.P., (the "merger") and other
 future events and their potential effects on the Company. The statements,
 analyses, and other information contained herein relating to the proposed
 merger, as well as other statements including words such as "anticipate,"
 "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "will," "should," "may,"
 and other similar expressions, are "forward-looking statements" under the
 Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
 statements are not guarantees of future results and are subject to certain
 risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
 materially from those anticipated. Those factors include, without
 limitation: changes in consumer preferences and consumer spending for
 pre-teen, teen and young adult apparel and accessories; competition;
 general economic conditions such as inflation and increased energy costs;
 general and political social conditions such as war, political unrest and
 terrorism; natural disasters or severe weather events; currency
 fluctuations and exchange rate adjustments; changes in laws; uncertainties
 generally associated with the specialty retailing business; disruptions in
 our supply of inventory; inability to increase comparable store sales at
 recent historical rates; inability to design and implement new information
 systems; delays in anticipated store openings or renovations; uncertainty
 that definitive financial results may differ from preliminary financial
 results due to, among other things, final GAAP adjustments and other
 changes to comply with applicable laws, rules and regulations; the
 reactions of the Company's customers and suppliers to the transaction; and
 diversion of management time on merger-related issues. These and other
 applicable risks, cautionary statements and factors that could cause actual
 results to differ from the Company's forward-looking statements are
 included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
 Commission ("SEC"), specifically as described in the Company's annual
 report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 28, 2006. The Company
 undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements
 to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
 
 

SOURCE Claire's Stores, Inc.