Dive Brief:
- On the heels of a terminated buyout offer from Jos. A. Bank to acquire Men's Wearhouse, the latter company has reportedly turned the tables with a $1.5 billion offer for the tuxedo retailer.
- Eminence Capital LLC, Men's Wearhouse's largest shareholder, as well as others with interests in the company, wanted to see Jos. A. Bank's bid go through, and this new turn of events may mark an effort to merge the two companies despite the takeover attempt's failure.
- A Tuesday statement from Men's Wearhouse claimed it had an "advantage in scale, growth and performance" in making such an acquisition happen.
Dive Insight:
The Jos. A. Bank and Men's Wearhouse drama has been an interesting little sequence of events to follow this year, and we wondered what would happen next. The pair make a sensible match in menswear and tuxedo categories, and it's not difficult to imagine them finding a way to coexist. In fact, the hedge funds driving the decisions over at Men's Wearhouse seem to be very committed to imagining such a merger right now.
