Bonobos, Men's Fashion Brand Owned by Walmart, Sold for $75 Million at a Major Loss

Express and WHP Global have jointly purchased the New York City-based menswear brand Bonobos for $75 million. This deal marks the first acquisition for the two companies’ strategic partnership. With double-digit sales growth, Bonobos is expected to help Express achieve economies of scale and accelerate its own growth. Bonobos, which launched in 2007, popularized social media marketing and omnichannel retail as key strategies for scaling an online-first brand. However, it faced a rapid churn of executives and layoffs after its acquisition by Walmart in 2017 for $310 million. Walmart’s e-commerce division faced losses and laid off dozens of Bonobos’s 600 employees in 2019. The current CEO of Bonobos, John Hutchison, took over in October 2022. The purchase by Express and WHP Global is expected to be completed in the second financial quarter of 2023.