Economy

PVH to buy Warnaco for $2.9B, gain Calvin control

PVH Corp., whose brands include Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, has agreed to buy rival clothier The Warnaco Group Inc. in a cash-and-stock deal worth about $2.9 billion. The deal would create one of the world's largest clothing companies and cement PVH's control of the Calvin Klein clothing brand.

Warnaco already sells Calvin Klein jeans and underwear, the brand's two largest categories, under a license and also sells brands such as Speedo, Warner's and Olga. The deal is the second big acquisition in three years for PVH, formerly known as Phillips Van Heusen. PVH acquired Tommy Hilfiger in 2010 for $3 billion.

Both companies' stock prices got a big boost from the deal. PVH's shares jumped $18.49, or 20.2 percent, to close at $109.99 Wednesday. Warnaco shares rose $19.70, or 39 percent, to $70.58. PVH said Wednesday it will pay Warnaco shareholders $51.75 in cash and a portion of its stock for each Warnaco share. That puts the total per-share value at $68.43, a 34 percent premium over the company's closing price on Friday, the last day markets were open before storms battered the East Coast.

"This is a unique opportunity to reunite the 'House of Calvin Klein' and reinforces our strategy to drive the global growth of Calvin Klein," PVH Chairman and CEO Emanuel Chirico said in a statement. The combined companies would have more than $8 billion in annual revenue. PVH's other brands include Izod and Arrow.

The deal is expected to close early next year. The boards of directors for both New York-based companies have unanimously approved it. After it closes, Warnaco shareholders will own about 10 percent of PVH's outstanding common stock. Warnaco CEO Helen McCluskey is expected to join PVH's board of directors.

PVH said it expects the deal to boost earnings in the first full year after it closes, excluding one-time integration costs and transaction expenses.

Related Headlines

  • Wal-Mart warns suppliers on stricter measures

    Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has alerted its global suppliers that it will immediately drop them if they subcontract their work to factories that haven't been authorized by the ... 

  • Why efforts to stop factory fires have failed

    About a year and a half before a fire at a clothing factory in Bangladesh killed 112 people in November, executives from Wal-Mart, Gap and other big retailers met nearby to ... 

  • ConAgra gobbles up store brands with Ralcorp deal

    ConAgra Foods is set to become the nation's biggest maker of store-brand foods, with a $5 billion purchase of Ralcorp that expands its stake in the growing market for cereals, ... 

  • Lampert faces tough road as Sears CEO

    Shares of Sears Holdings Corp. fell Tuesday, a day after the retailer announced that chairman and hedge fund billionaire Edward Lampert will take over the role of CEO. 

Overnight Averages

Find your future job here

What

Where

Service