Investing.com – An investor consortium including Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management has reportedly increased its takeover bid for Macy’s Inc (NYSE:) for a second time, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The previous proposals from these investors have not yet led to a transaction for the struggling department store chain.
The investors have reportedly increased their bid by about $300 million in recent days. The new offering aims to acquire the Macy’s shares that investors do not currently own for $24.80 per share, for an estimated total of $6.9 billion.
Earlier in March, the investors had increased their offer to $24 per share, or about $6.6 billion, from the original $21 per share proposal submitted by Arkhouse and Brigade on December 1.
At Wednesday’s close, Macy’s shares were valued at $17.93, resulting in a market cap of nearly $5 billion for the company. The stock is down about 11% this year.
In April, Macy’s appointed two new independent directors, ending a proxy battle with Arkhouse, which aimed to replace most of its 15-member board after its takeover bid was rejected by Macy’s.
Macy’s announced in April that it was in discussions with Arkhouse and Brigade about their buyout proposal and had provided them with confidential information for due diligence purposes.
In late May, Macy’s noted a decline in first-quarter sales compared to the previous year. However, the fall was less severe than Wall Street had predicted. CEO Tony Spring, former head of the Bloomingdale’s chain, raised the company’s prospects following these results.
