Steve & Barry's faces closure: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. casual clothing retailer Steve & Barry's is set to announce this week it will go out of business, the Wall Street Journal said, citing two people familiar with the situation.

Steve & Barry's spokesman Christopher Fugarino declined to comment.

Bay Harbour Management LC, a private equity firm based in New York that acquired 175 of the company's stores, has hired a liquidation firm to handle the chain's going-out-of-business sale, the paper said, adding that around 5,000 employees will be let go.

Harold Kahn, who was hired in mid-October to run the revamped chain, is no longer with Steve & Barry's, the paper said, citing a person familiar with the situation.

New York hedge fund York Capital Management, which invested equity alongside Bay Harbour, also stands to lose its investment, according to the paper.

Cerberus Capital Management LP, whose Ableco lending unit provided a loan to finance the deal, expects to be paid back in full, the paper said, citing people familiar with the deal.

A Steve & Barry's spokesman did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment from Reuters.

(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore, Editing by Ian Geoghegan)