Investors once again raise bid for Macy’s

Investors Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management are understood to have once again raised their bid for US department store Macy’s, this time taking their collective offer to 6.9 billion dollars.

If agreed upon, the new proposal would see Arkhouse and Brigade Capital snap up Macy’s stock for 24.80 dollars each, according to the Wall Street Journal, increasing its offering from the most recent 24 dollar per share proposal. This, in turn, was already an increase on the prior offer of 21 dollars that Macy's had ultimately rejected.

In its report, WSJ said the current bid represented a nearly 43 percent premium on Macy’s closing price in December, when discussions of a potential deal had first come to light.

Slight progress in the already long-running takeover battle was finally seen in early April, when two independent directors from Arkhouse, which already holds a 4.4 percent stake in Macy’s, were added to the retailer’s board.

At the time, it was understood that the new appointees, Richard Clark and Richard Markee, were to oversee the evaluation of and make recommendations regarding the acquisition proposal submitted by Arkhouse and Brigade Capital.

Macy’s, however, has continued to stand by its Bold New Chapter strategy, introduced as a means to increase profitability, with plans revolving around the closure of much of its store fleet alongside a shift in focus to smaller format locations.

While net sales for the first quarter of the year dropped 2.7 percent, chairman and CEO of the company, Tony Spring, remained optimistic, stating that the new strategy had resulted in “sales near the high end of our outlook”.