Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has officially confirmed plans to acquire upscale men’s clothing brand Bonobos Inc. for $310M in an all-cash deal.
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News that the world’s largest retailer was considering the possibility of a takeover of the New York City-based Bonobos broke in April. It is likely the online fashion company's apparel will now be sold on Wal-Mart’s Jet.com, Reuters reports, along with additional brands owned by the retailer. Once the deal is closed, Bonobos CEO Andy Dunn will oversee the company’s collection of digitally native vertical brands, reporting to Marc Lore, the president and CEO of Walmart E-commerce U.S.
This acquisition marks a continued strategic shift by Wal-Mart to beef up its online capabilities, add to its product assortment and further compete with e-commerce behemoth Amazon.com, which announced Friday that it would be acquiring Whole Foods.
Wal-Mart has been on a shopping spree as of late, buying online women’s apparel company ModCloth, ShoeBuy.com and outdoor gear and apparel e-commerce site MooseJaw.
In what was one of the retailer's largest buyouts on record, Wal-Mart acquired e-commerce startup Jet.com in August for $3B in cash. Barely a year old at the time, Jet.com had already amassed $500M in venture capital funding and boasted proprietary technology and a growing customer base that included more than 400,000 new visitors a month.
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