Men's Wearhouse latest $1.5 billion offer to acquire Jos. A. Bank was rebuffed The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
The retailer initially turning down a $2.4 billion bid from Jos. A. Bank, and subsequently offered the new deal Nov.26.
"Our board undertook a thorough review and determined that the per share consideration in the proposal made to us by Men's Wearhouse was simply not in the best interest of our shareholders," Robert Wildrick, chairman of Jos. A. Bank told The Journal. "At the same time, we continue to review acquisition opportunities that would represent a strong strategic fit with our company."
Men's Wearhouse rejected Jos. A. Bank's initial $2.3 billion bid to take over the struggling retailer in October.
The Men's Wearhouse board claims the bid underestimated the company's worth and did not take the shareholders best interests into account The New York Times reported.
Jos A. Bank offered to pay $48 a share in cash for Men's Wearhouse, 36 percent above its closing price Tuesday. The company also indicated it would use cash on hand, sell some of its stock, and increase debt to fund the deal.
The company also joined forces with buyout firm Golden Gate Capital, who was going to invest $250 million to finance the transaction. The Men's Wearhouse board claims the bid underestimated the company's worth and did not take the shareholders best interests into account The Times reported.
Another reason for not accepting the deal, Men's Wearhouse said it had twice as many stores as Jos. A Bank, and experienced 13 consecutive quarters of growth in same store sales through its main locations, while Jos A. Bank's revenue decreased three consecutive quarters.
In the past, Jos A. Bank introduced the idea to merge with its competitor three months after Men's Wearhouse let its founder and chairman George Zimmer go following a power struggle. over privatizing the company.
