Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. has picked Overstock.com Inc. as the lead bidder in an upcoming bankruptcy auction. The auction gives the right to own the big box store’s brand.

Overstock’s $21.5 million cash offer has been selected as the lead bidder for Bed Bath & Beyond’s intellectual property, according to court papers filed June 13. That sets the price floor for the bankrupt retailer’s brand.

A bankruptcy judge must approve the bid. It doesn’t include the retailer’s desirable Buy Buy Baby brand or its Harmon unit, court papers show.

Overstock.com is No. 50 in the Top 1000. The database is Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers. Bed Bath & Beyond ranked No. 47 prior to its bankruptcy.

Bed Bath & Beyond brand rights could go to Overstock

The offer puts Overstock, one of the nation’s top Internet retailers, in a favorable position to acquire Bed Bath & Beyond’s intellectual property out of bankruptcy. If Bed Bath & Beyond’s advisers select a competing offer, Overstock receives a break-up fee of up to $430,000 plus expenses.

Final bids for Bed Bath & Beyond’s assets are due June 16. An auction will be held June 21 if rival bids materialize in the next couple days. A New Jersey bankruptcy judge is scheduled to consider approving the sale at a June 27 hearing.

Lawyers representing Bed Bath & Beyond and its unsecured creditors declined to comment. Overstock didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.

Bed Bath & Beyond filed bankruptcy in April with plans to liquidate the retail chain listing more than $5.2 billion in total debt as of last year. A company lawyer said at the time Bed Bath & Beyond filed bankruptcy that they were still hopeful the retailer would be able to complete a going concern sale for the business.

The bankruptcy is Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc., 23-10574, US Bankruptcy Court for New Jersey (Newark).

A long time coming

Bed Bath & Beyond never quite caught on to ecommerce, says Rich DePencier, area managing partner and chief marketing officer of Chief Outsiders. Chief Outsiders is a management consulting services company.

The retailer didn’t experience the pandemic-induced burst of ecommerce growth other merchants did. Of the top five merchants in the houseware/home furnishings category, Bed Bath & Beyond was the only retailer to have less than 10% 3-year CAGR, according to Digital Commerce 360 analysis.

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