Bonobos has found a recent home after nearly six years under the Walmart Inc. umbrella. 

Brand management firm WHP Global and Express Inc. agreed to purchase the direct-to-consumer men’s pioneer for a combined $75 million — a steep discount to the $310 million Walmart shelled out for the brand in 2017. 

WHP is paying $50 million for the brand while Expr, the corporate that runs Express, will pick up the operating assets and liabilities for $25 million. 

The deal was signed on Thursday is predicted to shut within the second quarter, when Expr and WHP plan to enter into an exclusive long-term license agreement that could have Expr running the business within the U.S. 

That is the primary joint acquisition by the 2 firms, which formed a strategic partnership in January when WHP bought a 60 percent stake within the Express brand.

Yehuda Shmidman, WHP’s global chairman and chief executive officer, said Bonobos was the best brand for the 2 firms to begin with.  

“It’s just an ideal fit,” Shmidman told WWD in a joint interview with Expr CEO Tim Baxter. “It’s a brand that has had consistent growth that also has future opportunities for growth.” 

While Expr builds on the business within the U.S., WHP will look to seek out overseas partners to provide the brand more of a worldwide presence and will also help herald some recent product categories under license. 

“We see all upside,” said Shmidman, adding that the brand has a really loyal following and many room to grow.

WHP already owns Anne Klein, Joseph Abboud, Joe’s Jeans, Isaac Mizrahi, William Rast and others, which along with Bonobos, will generate nearly $7 billion in annual retail sales. 

And the brand management firm plans to maintain at it, with help from a $375 million investment from investment giant Ares Management last month. 

“We still have quite numerous fuel able to be deployed for more brand acquisitions,” Shmidman said. “We’re looking to amass no less than another brand this yr after Bonobos. We’re not going to purchase 100, despite the fact that there are such a lot of opportunities on the market.”

Within the meantime, Expr’s Baxter can be trying to construct Bonobos within the U.S., where he said can be accretive to operating earnings and free money flow positive this yr.

While Bonobos was a standout amongst a wave of digital natives that took fashion by storm a decade ago, the business took on a lower profile at Walmart. 

Baxter said Expr could bring the brand “an intense focus and experience in speciality retail.” 

“We’re a 43-year-old omnichannel retailer and we all know we are able to bring an incredible amount to the table,” said Baxter, pointing to the corporate’s 4 strategic pillars of product, brand, customer and execution. 

While Expr can be looking to understand synergies and drive efficiencies on the back end of the business, Baxter said the Bonobos would otherwise be operated completely independently. 

Bonobos CEO John Hutchison will proceed to guide the business as brand president and can report back to Baxter. 

The CEO also said Bonobos’ distinctive guide shops would hold to their strategy and operate as showrooms where customers can try on and buy looks while getting them delivered later. 

There can be other changes, though, including the Bonobos Fielder line, which was sold in Walmart stores and is predicted to be discontinued. 

When the deal closes it’ll mark a 3rd chapter for Bonobos after its go-go independent days when Andy Dunn hailed it as a component of a recent wave and after being owned by Walmart. 

The discount retail giant said: “Bonobos joined the Walmart family to expand our assortment and expertise in menswear. Since acquiring Bonobos, Walmart.com has grown from 70 million to a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of things. After nearly six years, we’ve decided it’s the best time to sell Bonobos.”

The deal also marks a sort of turning of the page for Walmart, which snatched up Bonobos together with quite a few other d-to-c brands because it squared off online with Amazon. 

But those businesses have steadily transitioned out at Walmart.

ModCloth was sold off in 2019 and the retailer cut a deal to dump Moosejaw to Dick’s Sporting Goods this yr. Similarly, the once-buzzy Jet.com business was acquired in 2016 and absorbed into the flagship in 2019. 

Those businesses might need come and gone, but they did help inject recent life into Walmart, which has successfully pivoted to change into what it describes as a “people-led, technology-powered omnichannel retailer.” 

For the reason that Jet deal was announced, Walmart’s market capitalization has grown by greater than $170 billion to about $402 billion.