Pep Boys: New Bridgestone Offer Beats Icahn

Pep Boys dropped a lump of coal in Carl Ichan's stocking on Christmas Eve, announcing that Bridgestone has increased its bid for the auto-parts retailer to an amount that Pep Boys believes is superior to Icahn's. Bridgestone increased its bid from $15.50 a share to $17, valuing Pep Boys at about $947 million, the two companies said in a Thursday afternoon news release. Icahn had increased his bid to $16.50 on Wednesday, and said he was willing to top any Bridgestone offer by a dime a share up to $18.10. Despite that promise, Pep Boys said the Japanese tire company's latest bid was superior to Icahn's, also noting that a termination fee Pep Boys must pay to Bridgestone in the case of accepting a superior offer was increased from $34 million to $39.5 million. Pep Boys stock closed Thursday's abbreviated session at $17.51, and has gained 13.7% in the past month amid back-and-forth acquisition bids from the two suitors.