Hooker Corp. and an investor group have...

Hooker Corp. and an investor group have proposed to take the specialty retailer Parisian Inc. private in a $252-million leveraged buyout. Parisian said it would not comment on the proposal, which must be approved by the Birmingham, Ala.-based company’s directors and shareholders and by government regulators. Hooker, a Sydney, Australia-based real estate company, said it was interested in Parisian because of the quality of the management and also the quality of the stores.