A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in New Jersey on Tuesday approved the sale of Bed Bath & Beyond’s name, intellectual property and ecommerce platform to winning bidder Overstock.com for $21.5 million, and the company is winding down its store assets in various lease agreements.
A separate auction is being held today in the New York offices of debtor counsel Kirkland & Ellis for the company’s buybuy Baby assets, with interested parties including Go Global Retail and Sixth Street Partners, according to media reports. That sale will be finalized on July 11.
Sixth Street had provided a $240 million debtor in possession loan to fund operations when Bed Bath & Beyond filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 23, a loan which some junior creditors objected to, according to Reuters.
As of February 25, Bed Bath & Beyond listed $2.22 million in assets and $5 million in liabilities, according to its 10k filing.
Overstock.com was selected as the winning bidder in an auction held on June 21. It had been the “stalking horse” bidder defining the low end of the range of bids from interested parties.
The bankruptcy court docket lists thousands of creditors of Bed Bath & Beyond, including an investor seeking $500 million from the retailer, as well as suppliers like Tempur Sealy, Keurig Green Mountain, Fisher Price and Conair. The deadline for filing administrative claims was set at July 21 by the bankruptcy court judge.
When Bed Bath & Beyond filed Chapter 11, it said its turnaround plan was untenable, loans were in default, debt far outstripped assets and buyers hadn’t surfaced for its three retail brands. CNBC reported at the time that dollar stores, pharmacy chains and DTC brands were all vying for its now vacant retail locations.
Two stock offerings this year which the company had hoped would raise $1 billion yielded just over $400 million, according to CNBC. In February, Bed Bath & Beyond hired Holly Etlin, a turnaround expert and managing partner at AlixPartners, to serve as interim CFO.