CNBC – Men’s Wearhouse seals $1.8 billion deal to buy Jos A Bank – quote by Jerry Reisman
Men’s Wearhouse said it would acquire rival Jos. A. Bank Clothiers for about $1.8 billion, ending a five-month takeover battle that started with Jos. A. Bank offering to buy its larger menswear rival.
The companies, operating in a mature market, have bid and counterbid for each other since October when Jos. A. Bank offered to buy Men’s Wearhouse for about $2.3 billion.
The increased offer price of $65 per share announced on Tuesday is a premium of 5.1 percent to Jos. A. Bank’s Monday closing price. But it is 56 percent more than the stock’s price in October before the merger battle began.
In early afternoon trading, Men’s Wearhouse was up 6.3 percent and Jos. A. Bank was up 3.9 percent.
Men’s Wearhouse, which had previously offered $63.50 per share, said the deal would create the fourth-largest men’s apparel retailer in the United States with annual sales of about $3.5 billion.
“It’s a second Christmas for Jos. A. Bank shareholders,” Jerry Reisman, an M&A expert at law firm Reisman Peirez Reisman and Capobianco LLP, told Reuters.
Men’s Wearhouse will be able to close stores duplicated in the same mall, reducing costs in the long term, he said.
Men’s Wearhouse did not mention any plans to close stores in its statement.
Jos. A. Bank said it would terminate its deal to buy outdoor apparel retailer Eddie Bauer for $825 million from Golden Gate Capital, which it made in a bid to stay independent.