Walmart Inc. has reached an agreement with WHP Global and Express Inc. to sell the menswear brand Bonobos for US $ 75 million, which is US $ 235 million less than what the retail behemoth paid for the company in 2017.
According to a statement released on Thursday, WHP, the company behind brands like Anne Klein and Joseph Abboud, will pay US $ 50 million for the Bonobos name. Partly WHP-owned Express will pay US $ 25 million to buy the operating assets and associated liabilities of Bonobos.
The transaction adds to Walmart’s portfolio of fashion disasters, as the company has a history of buying clothes companies only to sell them off or shut them down later. The business declared the sale of its lingerie line, Bare Necessities, as well as its footwear website, Shoes.com, in 2020. It has already announced the sale of the women’s fashion apparel company ModCloth.
“Bonobos joined the Walmart family to expand our assortment and expertise in menswear,” Walmart said in an email. “Since acquiring Bonobos, Walmart.com has grown from 70 million to hundreds of millions of items. After nearly six years, we’ve decided it’s the right time to sell Bonobos.”
Andy Dunn, who started Bonobos as a website in 2007, initially managed the brand when Walmart bought it, but he quit the retail behemoth in 2019.
Walmart has eliminated other companies with online roots, such as Bonobos. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based business decided to sell Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. its outdoor clothing and equipment outlet Moosejaw in February. Moosejaw was bought by Walmart in 2017 for roughly $51 million. The sale’s terms weren’t made public.
This summer is when the Bonobos purchase is anticipated to finalise. The president of Bonobos, John Hutchison, will continue in that role and report to Express CEO Tim Baxter.
In the release, Baxter stated, “Bonobos is producing double-digit sales growth and we want to continue that pace.” He also stated that he anticipates the acquisition to create operating income and cash in fiscal 2023.
