Men’s Wearhouse Offers to Buy Jos. A. Bank

The Men’s Wearhouse Inc. (Houston) has gone from hunted to hunter, turning the tables on Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. (Hampstead, Md.) by making a $1.5 billion acquisition offer of the company that had been seeking to take it over.

“Following Jos. A. Bank’s unsolicited public proposal to acquire Men’s Wearhouse, our board of directors evaluated a number of alternatives to deliver value to our shareholders,” said William Sechrest, lead director of the Men’s Wearhouse board. “After a thorough review, our board concluded that an acquisition of Jos. A. Bank by Men’s Wearhouse has strategic logic and the potential to deliver substantial benefits to our respective shareholders, employees and customers.”

Jos. A. Bank began this roundabout series of negotiations with an unsolicited $2.3 billion bid for Men’s Wearhouse in early October, rejected by Men’s Wearhouse management.

After a second Jos. A. Bank offer, Men’s Wearhouse management said it believed that its own turnaround plan would be better for shareholders. Some of the biggest shareholders publicly disagreed.