The New York Post reports that Walmart “made a bid this spring to acquire BJ'sWholesale Club for upwards of $3 billion ... Walmart, however, failed to pursue BJ's after the warehouse retailer rejected its offer of more than $55 a share in mid-April, according to sources.
“Instead, BJ's agreed in June to accept a substantially lower bid of $2.8 billion, or $51.25 a share, from private-equity firms Leonard Green & Partners and CVC Capital Partners.”
The story says that insiders remain divided about whether the bid was serious, or just an attempt by Walmart to get a look at BJ’s books under the guise of acquisitive interest. But most say that even it was serious, in all likelihood a bid by Walmart to combine BJ’s with its own Sam’s Club business would have drawn serious scrutiny from antitrust regulators.
“Instead, BJ's agreed in June to accept a substantially lower bid of $2.8 billion, or $51.25 a share, from private-equity firms Leonard Green & Partners and CVC Capital Partners.”
The story says that insiders remain divided about whether the bid was serious, or just an attempt by Walmart to get a look at BJ’s books under the guise of acquisitive interest. But most say that even it was serious, in all likelihood a bid by Walmart to combine BJ’s with its own Sam’s Club business would have drawn serious scrutiny from antitrust regulators.
- KC's View:
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I’m wrong often enough in this space that I think I’m justified in pointing out that a couple of weeks ago, when the Boston Globe first pointed out that there had been some interest expressed in BJ’s by a party that would have stirred some regulatory objections, I said that if someone put a gun to my head, I’d probably guess Walmart/Sam’s.
Lucky guess.
But as Dizzy Dean used to say, I’d rather be lucky than good.
