Bed, Bath & Beyond makes $300 million bid to avoid bankruptcy

Fight back from the brink of bankruptcy.

Bed Bath & Beyond offers $300 million of its shares in yet another attempt to stay afloat.

The public offering aims to generate funds to repay creditors and support the home textiles and decorations business as it tries to avoid bankruptcy.

If it doesn’t raise enough money, it will expected “likely to file for bankruptcy” – a contingency the company has been floating on since the beginning of the year.

Bed, Bath & Beyond strains in numbers

400: The number of stores Bed Bath & Beyond is closing out of a total of 760

40-50%: According to preliminary results, sales in the fourth quarter fell compared to the previous year

26.2%: Bed Bath & Beyond share price decline on Thursday (March 30)

Recorded: The sinking stocks of Bed, Bath & Beyond

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Quotable: The Self-Rescue Mission from Bed, Bath & Beyond

“The actions we have taken have allowed us to raise the necessary funds to begin the recovery of our iconic Bed Bath & Beyond and buybuy BABY stores. Since the beginning of February, we have raised $360 million in equity, recovered our default on our senior credit facility, repaid significant amounts of our ABL facility, completed our interest payment on our senior notes while also executing our turnaround plans.”—Sue GovePresident and CEO of Bed Bath & Beyond, in a statement dated March 30, 2023

A brief timeline of Bed, Bath & Beyond’s battles

2019: The company struggled to bring quarterly sales growth into the black and brought in former Target merchandising chief Mark Tritton as CEO.

2020: The Covid-19 pandemic brought stationary retail to a standstill. Its e-commerce sales boomedbut still stayed behind behind competitors like Target, which also sold groceries.

2021: As the world reopens, Bed, Bath & Beyond is dropping many brands and shifting focus to launching around a dozen own brands. They don’t reach the customers. Nonetheless, the stock continues to climb throughout the year as it becomes part of the Meme stick crazealongside cinema chain AMC, electronics retailer GameStop and others.

March 2022: GameStop chairman Ryan Cohen reveals he did it almost 10% share in the furniture store.

June 2022: Tritton is fired after sales plummeted 25% in the first quarter. Current CEO Sue Gove takes over.

August 2022: Meme stock mania returns for a moment until Cohen reveals his intention sell his entire position, causing the stock to plummet. The company cuts a third of its own brands. Also this month, a shareholder is suing the company, accusing CFO Gustavo Arnal of conspiring with Cohen in a pump-and-dump scheme. Arnal dies by suicide a few weeks later.

January 2023: Bed Bath & Beyond ends 2022 with over $1 billion in debt and in a January 5 submissionShe expresses “considerable doubts” about the “continued viability” of the company. in other securities Submission on January 25ththe retailer says it has defaulted on its loans and doesn’t have enough money to pay off its debt and is considering alternatives — including restructuring its debt in bankruptcy court.

February 2023: Bed Bath & Beyond narrowly avoids bankruptcy by increasing stock around $225 million in a share offering. Hudson Bay Capital Management is the lead investor in the sale. The infusion comes with the possibility of another $800 million being pumped in over the next 10 months

March 2023: Bed Bath & Beyond is terminating its agreement with Hudson Bay Capital for future financing after a sharp drop in sales once again. It addresses the public market.