Men's Wearhouse offers to buy Jos. A. Bank for $1.5B

Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Men's Wearhouse has put in a bid to buy out its smaller competitor, Jos. A. Bank, for $1.5 billion in cash. The merger would expand Men's Wearhouse operations to almost 1,700 stores, to make it the fourth largest U.S. men's apparel retailer.

The offer is about $55 per share, up 8.7 percent from Jos. A. Bank's Monday closing price. Men's Wearhouse's largest shareholders have been pushing the company to make a deal. Both Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank shares ticked upward Tuesday morning.

"The combined company will have a strong balance sheet with the operational flexibility to successfully execute on its strategic plan," said Men's Wearhouse CEO Doug Ewert in a statement. If the companies merged, sales are expected to rise to $3.5 billion. Men's Wearhouse reported that the Jos. A. Bank brand and banner would remain intact.

"Together, we can create the premier men's apparel retailer, with enhanced scale and a broader best-in-class offering for our valued customers."

Jos. A. Bank initially offered to buy out Men's Wearhouse in October for about $2.3 billion, or $48 per share, which Men's Wearhouse rejected for being too low. But Bank left the possibility of further discussion open.

Prior to this time, Men's Warehouse had also ousted their founding CEO, George Zimmer after indicating he wanted to take the company private.

[Bloomberg] [MarketWatch]