Walmart has agreed to sell its Bonobos menswear apparel brand, in a deal worth $75m, marking the latest sale of one of its non-food brands.
The company is set to sell the brand to WHP Global and Express Inc. at nearly one-third the $235m price it bought Bonobos for, in 2017. WHP (which owns brands such as Anne Klein and Joseph Abboud) will pay $50m for the Bonobos brand, while Express (partly-owned by WHP) will buy the Bonobos operating assets and related liabilities for $25m.
The move follows similar sales by Walmart – in 2019, it sold the ModCloth women’s fashion clothing business; in 2020, it sold its lingerie brand Bare Necessities and footwear site Shoes.com; and in 2023, it agreed to sell outdoor gear and apparel brand Moosejaw.
Walmart noted: “Bonobos joined the Walmart family to expand our assortment and expertise in menswear. 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 deal is expected to be completed in summer 2023. John Hutchison, the head of Bonobos, will stay on as Brand President and report to Tim Baxter, CEO of Express.
