Cars park in front of a Macy's store at Bay Fair Mall in San Leandro, California on February 27, 2024.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Arkhouse Management, a real estate investment firm, said Sunday that it and Brigade Capital Management had increased their offer for Macy's after the department store chain rejected its previous offer as too low.
The companies are now offering to purchase Macy's shares they don't already own for $24 per share, about 14% more than the previous offer of $21 per share.
The new offer for the company represents a premium of about 33% over Friday's previous closing price of $18.01 and values the company at $6.6 billion.
“We continue to offer the company an attractive alternative solution by selling the company at a significant premium. “This would provide significant value and immediate liquidity to Macy’s shareholders,” Arkhouse said.
“Macy's Inc's board of directors will carefully review and evaluate the latest proposal,” Macy's said in a separate statement.
The two investment firms had made a proposal in December last year to acquire the shares of Macy's that they did not already own for $21 per share, but the offer was rejected by the department store operator due to concerns about the financing and valuation of the deal.
Like other long-established department store operators, Macy's has struggled to compete against younger online competitors or competitors with smaller brick-and-mortar footprints. This has given Arkhouse and Brigade the opportunity to put pressure on Macy's to explore a sale.
Macy's also faces a board challenge from Arkhouse Management after the investment firm last month nominated nine director candidates, including executives with experience in retail, real estate and capital markets, to the department store's 14-member board.