By Deborah Mary Sophia and Chibuike Oguh
(Reuters) -Shares of Overstock.com jumped on Thursday after the online retailer won an auction for a portion of the assets of bankrupt home goods chain Bed Bath & Beyond.
Overstock emerged as the winning bidder for Bed Bath & Beyond’s intellectual property and mobile platform in a deal worth $21.5 million, court filings showed on Thursday.
Overstock’s stock rose more than 22% to $26.01, its highest level of the year. More than 8 million Overstock shares have traded in the session, nearly six times the stock’s 10-day moving average volume, per Refinitiv data.
Bed Bath & Beyond stores are not part of the deal. But Overstock will acquire the chain’s business data and publicity rights as well as assume certain liabilities related to transferred contracts. The sale is subject to approval by the bankruptcy court at a hearing on Tuesday.
Overstock last week offered to buy some Bed Bath & Beyond assets under a “stalking horse” bid, prompting the chain to launch an auction to solicit counter offers.
Once a storied company, Bed Bath & Beyond filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April after struggling for years with dwindling sales and a failed merchandising strategy.
Some Bed Bath & Beyond brands including its Buy Buy Baby chain, which sells products for infants and toddlers, had attracted interest from investment firms Go Global Retail and Sixth Street Partners, according to media reports.
(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru and Chibuike Oguh in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Mark Porter)
