Men’s Wearhouse to Acquire Jos. A. Bank

Men's Wearhouse Inc. (Houston) will acquire Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. (Hampstead, Md.) for about $1.8 billion, ending the five-month back-and-forth that began in October 2013, when Jos. A. Bank first offered to buy Men’s Wearhouse.

As part of the acquisition, Jos. A. Bank said it will terminate its deal to buy Eddie Bauer Holdings LLC (Scottsdale, Ariz.) for $825 million, which it announced in February.

Men's Wearhouse said the deal would create the fourth-largest men's apparel retailer in the U.S., with annual sales of about $3.5 billion. The deal will also allow Men's Wearhouse to close stores where there are duplications, but the retailer didn’t mention any closing plans in its statement.

Jos. A Bank started the bidding in October 2013, soon after Men's Wearhouse founder George Zimmer was pushed out of the company by the board of directors, revealing a rift at the top. Men's Wearhouse rebuffed the offer from the smaller retailer, but was then pressured by its hedge fund investor, Eminence Capital LLC (New York), to reconsider and reenter negotiations.