Mergers & Acquisitions

Forget Black Friday. When it comes to selling suits and ties, the appropriate colors are apparently black and blue. Men's Wearhouse, which recently fought off a hostile bid from smaller rival Jos. A. Bank, announced its own $1.5 billion bid for Jos. A Bank this morning. Men's Wearhouse said in a statement that it evaluated a number of alternatives after Jos. A. Bank took its unsolicited offer public on Oct. 9. Men's Wearhouse concluded that an acquisition of Jos. A. Bank made the most sense. Men's Wearhouse is offering $55 a share in cash. 

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers terminated its unsolicited $2.3 billion takeover offer for rival men's clothing retailer Men's Wearhouse, though left the door open for the potential of future acquisition talks. Jos. A. Bank had said it would drop its buyout offer if Men's Wearhouse's board didn't engage in negotiations by Thursday. "Jos. A. Bank continues to believe that a transaction could be in the best interest of the respective shareholders of the two companies," Jos. A. Bank said in a statement early Friday.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and eBay have partnered to present the Martha Stewart American Made Market, exclusively on eBay, an online marketplace that will spotlight makers, support artisans and celebrate the handmade. Curated by Martha Stewart and her team at Martha Stewart Living, the American Made Market will honor a new generation of great American entrepreneurs with a curated e-commerce experience that will include products in categories such as crafts, food, garden, and more. The Martha Stewart American Made Market on eBay is an extension of Martha Stewart's American Made program, which celebrated its second year this fall.

Under Armour is buying the popular workout application company MapMyFitness for $150 million, putting the sports apparel maker in charge of one of the biggest social sports communities on mobile devices. The Baltimore-based company says it agreed to buy the app maker to broaden its existing digital offerings and augment plans to become a premiere sports company. MapMyFitness, which launched in 2007 and is based in Austin, Tex., counts 20 million registered users, 9 million of which use its service on a monthly basis and 700,000 of which use it daily.

Men's Wearhouse rejected Jos. A. Bank Clothiers latest effort to acquire it, denying the retailer's request to review nonpublic company information. The board of Houston-based Men's Wearhouse decided that providing such access isn't in its shareholders’ best interest, the company announced Monday. It rejected Jos. A. Bank's $2.3 billion acquisition offer in October, saying it undervalued the men's apparel chain.

The top job at a combined Office Depot and OfficeMax won't belong to Neil Austrian or Ravi Saligram, but neither office-supply company chief executive will go away empty-handed. If the merger closes as expected, each will collect millions as they exit their respective companies and a new CEO is appointed. Austrian, who is retiring from Office Depot, will get $15 million to $16 million in a "golden parachute," depending on the stock price at closing. OfficeMax's Saligram is expected to reap about $13.5 million, said Aaron Boyd, director of governance research at Equilar, an executive compensation data firm.

CVSL, a direct-selling company run by Mary Kay Inc.'s former chairman, has offered to buy Blyth Inc. for about $268 million, two people with knowledge of the matter said. CVSL offered to pay $16.75 a share for Blyth, which sells candles, fragrances and ViSalus weight-loss products, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The offer, which was extended last week, could be made public by CVSL as soon as today, one of the people said. Blyth rose 21 percent to close at yesterday, giving it a market value of $248.2 million.

Ares Management and Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board have completed their $6 billion purchase of luxury retailer Neiman Marcus. The transaction ends control of the luxury retailer by private equity firms TPG Capital and Warburg Pincus. They bought the company for $5.1 billion in 2005 during booming economic times, and just before a global economic crisis. Neiman Marcus, founded in 1907 by Herbert Marcus Sr., his sister Carrie Marcus and her husband A.L Neiman, has had a series of owners during its rich history. 

Men's Wearhouse is pursuing a possible purchase of dress-shoe maker Allen Edmonds, according to people familiar with the matter — and Jos. A. Bank Clothiers has a vested interest in the outcome. Such a deal could complicate Jos. A. Bank's own unsolicited — and spurned — bid for Men's Wearhouse. In order to pull off its cash bid for Men's Wearhouse, an offer valued at $2.3 billion, Jos. A. Bank would need to raise a significant amount of debt. 

Advance Auto Parts will become the largest auto-parts retailer in North America with a $2.04 billion cash deal to buy Carquest Auto Parts’ parent company General Parts International Inc. The combined company will have annual sales of $9.2 billion, pushing it just past Memphis, Tenn.-based AutoZone, which reported adjusted sales of roughly $9 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31.