The Men's Wearhouse clothing chain is adding fuel to its relentless pursuit of arch-rival Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, by increasing its previous takeover offer by 10% to roughly $1.78 billion, the company announced Monday morning.
Stock in each company is up in the 8% neighborhood.
It's been a wild, cat and mouse chase between the two men's clothing giants, as each has ambitions to remain among the last national men's store chains standing in the highly competitive, $57 billion men's apparel business. The move comes just 10 days after Jos. A. Bank, in a protective move, announced that it planned to purchase the parent of Eddie Bauer for about $825 million. Even then, Jos. A. Bank said at the time that it would considering dropping the Eddie Bauer deal if it received a better acquisition offer.
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Which may explain why, on Monday, Men's Wearhouse opted to up it offer to $63.50 per share, up from its prior bid of $57.50 per share. The new offer, set to expire on March 12, is conditioned on Jos. A. Bank ending its deal for Eddie Bauer. Other conditions include Jos. A. Bank's directors redeeming or invalidating the shareholder rights plan that's in place.
But the 1,133-store Men's Wearhouse chain didn't stop there. The chain, founded in 1973, said it may even raise the bid further, to $65 per share, if it is able to examine Jos. A. Bank's books and given access to the company's management team.
Men's Wearhouse President and CEO Doug Ewert said in a statement that it would even be willing to talk about offering Jos. A. Bank shareholders the opportunity to choose to receive Men's Wearhouse stock for part of its proposal.
"We have had extensive dialogue with shareholders of both companies over the last several months and have received widespread support for this transaction," said Ewert, in a statement.
Jos. A. Bank did not immediately respond to ! an email seeking comment.
The Associated Press contributed.
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