The stiff suits still haven’t finished their night on the dance floor.
Men’s Wearhouse said Thursday it would consider sweetening its $1.61 billion takeover bid for Jos. A. Bank, urging independent directors for its arch-rival to allow it a peek at its books.
Jos. A. Bank — whose chairman, Bob Wildrick, put both companies in play last September when he made an initial overture to Men’s Wearhouse valued at $2.3 billion — declined to comment.
In a letter, Men’s Wearhouse, which this month turned the tables by launching a hostile counter-offer of its own, accused Wildrick of having a conflict of interest.
Facing the prospect of losing his job in a merger of the two companies, Wildrick, according to Men’s Wearhouse, is ignoring its $57.50 a share offer and is weighing other deals, including buying other companies.
Men’s Wearhouse, in the letter, threw back at Wildrick his own September overture: that the two companies would make “ideal partners.”
Investors cheered the letter, bidding up Men’s Wearhouse shares 2 percent to $46.99 on Thursday. Jos. A. Bank, which called the offer inadequate, closed at $55.70, up 1.5 percent.
On Thursday, the company said it would strongly prefer to conduct talks and “limited due diligence” to cut a friendly deal.
“We are quite confident that such a discussion would make it crystal clear how committed we are to making this combination a reality,” Men’s Wearhouse CEO Doug Ewert said in the letter.