May Agrees to Acquire David’s Bridal

May Department Stores Co. agreed to buy David’s Bridal Inc. for $436 million to link its bridal registry with the biggest U.S. wedding gown retailer. The owner of Robinsons-May, Lord & Taylor and other department stores will pay $20 a share in cash, 73% more than David’s Bridal’s closing price of $11.56 on Friday. David’s Bridal, based in the Philadelphia suburb of Conshohocken, generated $175 million in sales last year. May plans to tie its gift registry business to David’s Bridal’s 110 stores. The move may help draw younger consumers to May’s department stores, which are competing with specialty chains such as AnnTaylor Stores Corp. “They want to get the young bridal customer in and get them on a May charge card,” said Britt Beemer, chairman of America’s Research Group, a Charleston, S.C.-based consumer research company. “Department stores have struggled to get away from the older demographic.” Shares of St. Louis-based May rose 50 cents to close at $24.50 on the New York Stock Exchange. David’s Bridal shares jumped $8.19, or 71%, to close at $19.75 on Nasdaq.