Men's Wearhouse Rejects Jos. A. Bank's $2.4B Offer

The Men's Wearhouse Inc. rejected Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc.'s $2.4 billion offer. But that doesn't mean the men's vertical retailer is going to walk away anytime soon.

Robert N. Wildrick, chairman of Jos. A. Bank, said in a telephone interview, "I am disappointed in their formulated response. In the interests of shareholders, and more importantly in the interests of customers, this is an opportunity to put together a couple of very good companies and come out with an extraordinarily good company with better product that's cheaper to compete against the big guys, such as Macy's. That's a plus in my point of view. It's a win-win for everybody."

Wildrick emphasized: "Their obligation is to sit down with us, rather than put us down....We have no plans at this time to go away."

Jos. A. Bank first reached out to Men's Wearhouse on Sept. 18 with an acquisition proposal that would give Men's Wearhouse's shareholders a cash offer of $48 a share. Although Men's Wearhouse received the proposal in September, they didn't reject it until Wednesday.

Bill Sechrest, Men's Wearhouse's lead director, said the proposal "significantly undervalued Men's Wearhouse" and called it "opportunistic."

Doug Ewert, Men's Wearhouse's chief executive officer, said, "Men's Wearhouse has undertaken a number of strategic initiatives to accelerate growth and profitability, including our recent acquisition of JA Holding Inc. and the Joseph Abboud brand. We believe we are well positioned to deliver compelling value to our shareholders."

Sources said if Jos. A. Bank did pull back its offer, it would happen before the holiday season and then consider another play post-holiday. That would be risky for Men's Wearhouse, said another contact, who noted that a lackluster holiday selling season could translate into a lower bid than the on the table now.