Jos. A. Bank withdraws 2.3 billion offer for Men’s Wearhouse

In the last chapter of a tortuous and apparently unidirectional

love affair, Jos. A. Bank said Friday that it had withdrawn its 2.3 billion dollars takeover bid for Men’s Wearhouse after failing to engage the latter into merger talks ahead of a Thursday deadline.

“The MW board has denied our request for limited due diligence and has failed to engage in any discussions whatsoever regarding our proposal,” Robert Wildrick, Jos. A. Bank’s chairman, wrote in a letter to Douglas S. Ewert, the chief executive of Men’s Wearhouse, referring to the company’s ticker symbol. “We are therefore terminating our proposal in order to consider other strategic alternatives which we have been investigating.”

It’s worth remembering that Jos. A. Bank made an unsolicited offer of 48 dollars a share for Men's Wearhouse Inc. in September. However, the pursued Men's Wearhouse rejected the bid in October, calling it "opportunistic" and "inadequate". Soon later, Jos A. Bank gave it a second try, announcing that it would terminate its bid by Nov. 14 if there continued to be no discussions on the proposal.

As broadly reported in the US, Jos. A. Bank allegedly says it still believes that a deal could be in the best interest of both companies' shareholders.

That’s why Jos. A. Bank left open the possibility of reviving the offer in case Men’s Wearhouse changes its mind.