March 17 (Reuters) - Phillips-Van Heusen Corp (PVH.N) has turned down guaranteed bank financing for the purchase of fashion brand Tommy Hilfiger, in order to save millions of dollars in fees, the New York Post said.

www.TommyHilfiger.com

Instead, Phillips-Van Heusen would tap the debt market to fund the leveraged deal, the paper said, citing a source close to the situation.

To secure guaranteed financing, the company could have paid a 2 percent fee on the $3.05 billion syndicated loan, which translates to about $61 million in total fees, according to the paper.

However, Phillips-Van Heusen is expecting that there will be buyers for the below-investment-grade debt, the paper said.

On Monday 15 March, the company said it would buy Tommy Hilfiger from London-based Apax Partners in a cash-and-stock deal worth about $3 billion to boost its presence in Europe and Asia. For more click on.

The company said it expected to use $3.05 billion in debt, $385 million in cash, $200 million in preferred stock and $200 million from a common stock offering to finance the deal and refinance other debt.

Phillips-Van Heusen could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours. (Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore, editing by Will Waterman)