Jos. A. Bank Rejects Men's Wearhouse's Latest Offer; May Consider Higher Price

(RTTNews) - Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. (JOSB) said Thursday that its Board of Directors has unanimously rejected The Men's Wearhouse Inc.'s (MW) sweetened $63.50 per share unsolicited offer as inadequate, after giving effect to the Eddie Bauer acquisition and related issuer tender offer, and not in the best interests of Jos. A. Bank stockholders.

The Jos. A. Bank board recommends that the company's stockholders reject the Men's Wearhouse offer and not tender their shares into the offer.

In a letter to Douglas Ewert, President and Chief Executive Officer of Men's Wearhouse, Jos. A. Bank also said, "In our Board's continuing effort to evaluate which alternative transaction would create the greatest value for Jos. A. Bank shareholders, and on the basis of your unsolicited revised proposal indicating a willingness to pay a higher price subject to certain conditions, our Board has authorized our meeting with you to establish a process that will enable you to advise our Board as to the highest price you are prepared to pay in an acquisition of Jos. A. Bank."

In addition, Jos. A. Bank said that the Federal Trade Commission today granted early termination of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust waiting period with respect to the pending deal between Jos. A. Bank and Golden Gate Capital, under which Jos. A. Bank will acquire Everest Holdings LLC, parent company of the Eddie Bauer brand.

Men's Wearhouse on Monday sweetened its offer for Jos. A. Bank to $63.50 a share, and also offered to up the ante to $65.00 if the clothing retailer terminates its deal to buy Eddie Bauer.

The acquisition battle between Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank started about three months ago, when Hampstead, Maryland-based Jos. A. Bank offered to buy its bigger rival Men's Wearhouse for $2.3 billion. However, Men's Wearhouse immediately rejected that offer, and launched a counter bid to buy Jos. A. Bank for $1.2 billion, which was then sweetened to about $1.6 billion.