(Reuters) – Bed Bath & Beyond’s lender Sixth Street Partners is considering bidding for at least some of the bankrupt retailer’s assets, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing a court hearing.
Sixth Street is planning to use more than $500 million of its debt in the company to bid, the report said, citing the investment firm’s lawyer in a bankruptcy-court hearing on Wednesday.
If other offers for Bed Bath & Beyond’s assets come up less than what Sixth Street considers satisfactory, the lender plans to bid in the form of debt forgiveness, the report added, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
Bed Bath & Beyond, Sixth Street and the lender’s lawyer David Hillman did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Sixth Street, which loaned Bed Bath & Beyond $375 million in 2022 amid the home goods chain’s struggle to stem steep losses and sales declines, has replaced JPMorgan Chase as the company’s senior lender, the report said, thus securing rights to bid using its debt holdings.
Sixth Street could seek to acquire Bed Bath & Beyond’s baby gear chain Buybuy Baby or all of the company’s assets out of bankruptcy, the report added.
Bed Bath earlier this week reached a deal with Overstock.com where the online retailer would buy some of its assets, including intellectual property, business data, rights to mobile applications, for $21.5 million.
(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
