Walmart Inc. agreed to sell its Bonobos menswear line to WHP Global and Express Inc. for $75 million — $235 million less than what the retail giant paid for the business in 2017.
(Bloomberg) — Walmart Inc. agreed to sell its Bonobos menswear line to WHP Global and Express Inc. for $75 million — $235 million less than what the retail giant paid for the business in 2017.
WHP, which owns such brands as Anne Klein and Joseph Abboud, will pay $50 million for the Bonobos brand, according to a statement Thursday. Express, which is partly owned by WHP, will acquire the Bonobos operating assets and related liabilities for $25 million.
The deal adds to a list of fashion flops for Walmart, which has a record of acquiring apparel businesses only to offload or shutter them later. In 2020, the company announced the sale of its footwear website, Shoes.com, and its lingerie brand, Bare Necessities. The previous year, the retailer announced the sale of ModCloth, a women’s fashion apparel business.
Walmart has also been paring other parts of its portfolio more recently. In February, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company agreed to sell Moosejaw, a retailer of outdoor goods, to Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. Walmart said Bonobos had helped it expand its e-commerce offerings.
“Bonobos joined the Walmart family to expand our assortment and expertise in menswear,” the company 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.”
The Bonobos deal is expected to close in Express’s fiscal second quarter, which ends this summer.
“Bonobos is delivering double-digit sales growth and we plan to continue that momentum,” said Tim Baxter, chief executive officer of Express. “This is a compelling addition to our brand portfolio, and I expect the transaction will be accretive to operating income and free cash flow positive in fiscal 2023.”
Andy Dunn, the founder of Bonobos who initially oversaw the brand following Walmart’s purchase of it in 2017, left the retail giant in 2019.
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