(Reuters) – Overstock.com will buy certain assets of bankrupt home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond for $21.5 million, the online retailer said on Tuesday.
The deal, designated a “stalking horse” bid under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, will include intellectual property, business data, rights to mobile applications, and will also assume certain liabilities of Bed Bath & Beyond.
Bed Bath will continue to solicit other bids until the expected deadline on Friday and will undertake an auction next week to determine the winning bidder if additional bids are received, the company said in an emailed response to Reuters.
The retailer had delivered 10% of the purchase price in cash to an escrow agent in immediately available funds, Overstock said in a regulatory filing.
Bed Bath & Beyond had in April filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after struggling with dwindling sales and a failed merchandising strategy.
The Wall Street Journal last week reported that retail investment firm Go Global Retail was in talks with Bed Bath & Beyond for its Buybuy Baby chain.
Shares of Overstock were up 3.4% in afternoon trade.
(Reporting by Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Maju Samuel)
