Jos. A. Bank Confirms Proposal To Buy Men's Wearhouse For $48/shr In Cash

(RTTNews) - Retailer Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. (JOSB) confirmed Wednesday that it has made a non-binding proposal to acquire Men's Wearhouse Inc. (MW) for $48 per share in cash, representing a total equity value of about $2.3 billion, in a negotiated transaction.

The proposal represents an about 42% premium to the closing price of Men's Wearhouse common stock on September 17, 2013, the day before Jos. A. Bank made the proposal to Men's Wearhouse in a telephone call and follow-up letter from Robert Wildrick, Chairman of the Board of Jos. A. Bank, to Douglas Ewert, Chief Executive Officer of Men's Wearhouse.

Men's Wearhouse has said Jos. A. Bank that it is reviewing the proposal.

Jos. A. Bank expects that the acquisition would be immediately and significantly accretive to its earnings.

The transaction is expected to be funded by a combination of cash on Jos. A. Bank's balance sheet, new equity capital and debt financing. The new equity will be provided by Golden Gate Capital, a leading private equity firm.