Men’s Wearhouse makes $1.5B bid for Jos. A. Bank

Gordon Gekko would have been proud.

Men’s Wearhouse — in a slick salvo worthy of Hollywood’s sartorially savvy Wall Street shark — bid $1.5 billion in cash Tuesday to acquire its one-time suitor Jos. A. Bank.

The tricky tactic, known as the “Pac-Man defense,” is a throwback to the corporate board wars of the 1980s, when companies under attack turned on their would-be acquirers like Pac-Man turned on the ghosts who chased him.

Less than two weeks earlier, rival suit retailer Jos. A. Bank had dropped a $2.3 billlion offer for Men’s Wearhouse, saying it had met with stony silence after two months of pitching and wooing.

“We believe we are the right acquirer for this combination and that our experienced management team is best positioned to execute the integration of our companies,” said Bill Sechrest, lead director of the board of Men’s Wearhouse.

The statement, claiming that Men’s Wearhouse has the “advantage in scale, growth and performance” to be the acquirer, signals that Men’s Wearhouse managers and directors are looking to keep their jobs even as they succumb to investor pressure to consummate a merger.

Indeed, the move is an abrupt about-face from statements in recent weeks, in which Men’s Wearhouse raised antitrust concerns about a merger, as well as recent declines in Jos. A. Bank’s business.

In a dramatic dust-up in June, Men’s Wearhouse ousted its husky-voiced founder, George Zimmer, accusing him of trying to sell the company.

According to sources, Jos. A. Bank has been open to the idea of Zimmer returning to Men’s Wearhouse in some capacity if Jos. A. Bank completed the acquisition.

In an interview last month, however, Jos. A. Bank Chairman Bob Wildrick told The Post that he was open to the idea of his company being acquired by Men’s Wearhouse.

In the Tuesday statement, Jos. A. Bank said it received the “unsolicited, non-binding acquisition proposal” and would respond “in due course.”

Men’s Wearhouse’s offer for its rival, equal to $55 a share, is an 8.7 percent premium over Jos. A. Bank’s Monday closing price and 32 percent above Jos. A. Bank’s stock price when news of its merger efforts first surfaced.

Wall Street bid up shares of both companies on the news, as hopes for a merger skyrocketed. The deal was cheered publicly by Ricky Sandler of Eminence Capital, which recently disclosed a 9.8 percent stake in Men’s Wearhouse and threatened to shake up its board if it refused to consider a merger.

“We are pleased to see that the Board of Men’s Wearhouse agrees with us and recognizes the substantial benefits of merging with Jos. A. Bank,” Sandler said in a statement.

Shares of Jos. A. Bank hit a 52-week high of 56.91 before closing at $56.29, still well above the Tuesday offer from Men’s Wearhouse, suggesting investors expect the latter will be forced to raise its bid.

Men’s Wearhouse shares hit a 52-week high of $52.72 before closing up 7.5 percent at $50.60.