Men’s Wearhouse Raises Its Bid For Jos. A. Bank, Tells It To Ditch Eddie Bauer Deal

(Xurble)

We’re not sure if this is some kind of awkward mating ritual or a true test of wills, but the back-and-forth between Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank just keeps getting nuttier: Men’s Wearhouse wants Jos. A. Bank so bad, it’s upped the ante and raised its takeover bid by about $1.78 billion. But it’s also saying Jos. A. Bank has to dump its newest fling, Eddie Bauer.

Men’s Wearhouse has set the condition that if Jos. A. Bank agrees to end the rival deal to buy Eddie Bauer, it’ll lift its bid by about 10%, from an offer of about $63.50 per share to $65, reports the Wall Street Journal. It’d have to conduct limited due diligence first, of course, if it’s allowed.

At the same time, Men’s Wearhouse announced it’s filed a lawsuit against the Jos. A. Bank board, joining other shots the two have been firing against each other since October.

We wouldn’t blame you if you’re confused by which men’s clothier is on the auction block and which one is doing the bidding, because after Jos. A. Bank made an unsolicited $2.3 billion offer for Men’s Wearhouse, Men’s Wearhouse turned around tried to buy Jos. A. Bank before it could be bought itself, and then Jos. A. Bank went and bought Eddie Bauer in a weird attempt to thwart a takeover by Men’s Wearhouse. If I never have to write either of those company’s names again in a sentence, it’ll be too soon.

We’re not sure if we want these two crazy kids to finally get together or just leave the yard and stop the fight already. We can’t stand watching all those reasonably priced suits going at each other, it’s just too much.

Men’s Wearhouse Boosts Offer for Jos. A. Bank [Wall Street Journal]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist