Bed Bath & Beyond ends auction for Buy Buy Baby stores

Bed Bath & Beyond

07/07/2023 17:59

By Dietrich Knauth
       NEW YORK, July 7 (Reuters) - Bankrupt retailer Bed Bath
& Beyond has ended its efforts to find a buyer for its entire
Buy Buy Baby business, and it will instead seek U.S. court
approval for a more limited sale of Buy Buy Baby's intellectual
property assets. 
    Bed Bath & Beyond had declared Dream On Me as lead bidder
for the brand's intellectual property on June 29, but had
continued to seek buyers who would take over the entire Buy Buy
Baby business. But no bidder offered a higher or better bid than
Dream on Me's proposal, so Bed Bath & Beyond canceled an auction
that had been scheduled for Friday, according to a notice filed
Thursday night in New Jersey bankruptcy court. 
    Dream on Me Industries, a New Jersey-based baby products
retailer, has agreed to pay $15.5 million in cash for the Buy
Buy Baby intellectual property, including the company's brand
name, sales data, websites and mobile apps, according to court
documents. 
    Bed Bath & Beyond will seek approval of the Buy Buy Baby IP
sale at a July 11 court hearing. 
    The once-prominent retailer pursued a similar strategy for
its own intellectual property, selling its name, customer data,
and online assets to Overstock.com for $21.5 million. 
    Overstock will rebrand itself as an online-only version of
Bed Bath & Beyond without acquiring any of the bankrupt
retailers stores or inventory.
    Dream on Me and Bed Bath & Beyond did not immediately
respond to a request for comment Friday. 
    Once a storied retailer, Bed Bath & Beyond filed for Chapter
11 bankruptcy protection in April after struggling for years
with dwindling sales and a failed merchandising strategy.

 (Reporting by Dietrich Knauth, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and
David Gregorio)
 ((Dietrich.Knauth@thomsonreuters.com;))