Jos. A. Bank Clothiers said Friday morning that it had agreed to buy the parent company of Eddie Bauer in a deal valued at $825 million, including cash and debt.
Jos. A. Bank, which has been in a protracted merger battle with its rival Men’s Wearhouse, had been in talks with Eddie Bauer’s owners in an effort to stay independent.
Jos. A. Bank had first bid $2.3 billion for its bigger rival last fall, but Men’s Wearhouse rebuffed the attempts and later turned the tables, offering to buy Jos. A. Bank.
In a statement, Jos. A. Bank said that Eddie Bauer was one of the first acquisition candidates considered by the company over the last two years as it sought to unlock shareholder value.
The purchase of Eddie Bauer will be done with a combination of $564 million in cash and approximately 4.7 million new shares of common stock of Jos. A. Bank.
Golden Gate Capital, the private equity firm that owns Eddie Bauer, is selling 4.6 million of its common shares, or 16.4 percent of its outstanding shares, at a price of $65 per share, or about $300 million. Golden Gate will also have the right to a $50 million bonus in cash, based on Eddie Bauer’s profit performance in 2014.
Based in Bellevue, Wash., Eddie Bauer runs about 370 stores. Jos. A. Bank operates about 600 stores.
