FinkAvenue/iStock Editorial via Getty Images An investor group, including Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management, bidding to acquire Macy’s (NYSE:M) has raised its offer for the second time to $24.80 a share, or about $6.9 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Investors have boosted their bid for the department store chain by around $300 million in recent days, despite previous proposals not leading to a transaction, according to people familiar with the matter. The new offer is to acquire Macy's (M) stock that Arkhouse and Brigade Capital do not already own for $24.80 each, up from $24 in March and up from the $21 proposal that the duo initially submitted in December, the report added. Macy’s (M) shares closed Wednesday at $17.93. Year-to-date, the stock has seen a decline of about 11%. In March, Macy's (M) announced that its board would \"carefully review\" and evaluate the latest proposal in consultation with its financial and legal advisors. In April, the department store chain ended a nearly two-month proxy battle with Arkhouse Management by appointing two of the activist investor's nominees, Richard Clark and Richard Markee, to its board.