Bed Bath & Beyond has reportedly said in court papers that it will run a separate sale process for BuyBuy Baby as it moves forward with the auction for its namesake chain, according to CNBC. Running a separate sales process could help bring in more bids for BuyBuy Baby, which has been attracting more attention than its parent company, in order to maximize its offer price.
The auction for Bed Bath & Beyond’s assets is set to move forward on June 21, while BuyBuy Baby’s auction is planned for June 28. The bidding floor for Bed Bath & Beyond is at $21.5 million, based on the offer Overstock.com placed for assets, including its intellectual property, business, internet and mobile properties and business data.
Bed Bath & Beyond has been in and out of talks with potential suitors to purchase BuyBuy Baby since at least April 2022, when companies including Cerberus Capital Management LP and Tailwind Acquisition Corp. reportedly expressed interest. The sale was pushed by RC Ventures, the venture capital fund of Chewy Co-founder Ryan Cohen, which held a 9.8% stake in Bed Bath & Beyond at the time. RC Ventures believed that BuyBuy Baby had a market value of approximately $1.3 billion as of April 22, 2022.
Currently, at least two bidders have expressed interest in BuyBuy Baby, but no official offers have been placed. DTC baby registry website Babylist is looking at the retailer’s trademark and domain, while an unnamed company expressed interest in keeping 75% of stores open.
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Separately, The Wall Street Journal reported that Global Retail, the private investment parent of Janie and Jack, is reportedly interested in acquiring BuyBuy Baby and keeping its physical footprint open as well. It is unclear whether Global Retail is the previously unnamed bidder.
