NEW YORK -
Talbots hired Perella Weinberg Partners LP, said the people, who declined to be identified because the decision had not been made public.
The chain has posted losses for the past five quarters. Chief executive Trudy Sullivan has made three rounds of job cuts since 2008, with the company saying in June that it would eliminate 20 percent of its corporate positions. Talbots posted a loss of $24.5 million in the quarter ended Aug. 1.
“It is the company’s policy not to comment on speculation,’’ Julie Lorigan, a Talbots spokeswoman, said yesterday. Perella Weinberg declined to comment.
Aeon USA Inc., a unit of Japanese retailer Aeon Co., held 54.3 percent of Talbots’ outstanding shares as of April 2, Bloomberg data show. Aeon, Japan’s largest supermarket retailer, posted a first-half loss of $163 million in the six months through August.
But “there is no change in our support to Talbots,’’ said Koji Tsusue, an Aeon spokesman.
