Judge OKs sale of BuyBuy Baby's IP assets; no deal for stores

BuyBuy Baby's 120 stores will go dark after a last-minute attempt to keep the company up and running as a going concern didn't pan out. 

A bankruptcy court judge has approved the sale of BuyBuy Baby's intellectual property for $15.5 million to Dream on Me, a New Jersey-based company that makes and sells a wide range of baby goods. The company, a former vendor of BuyBuy Baby, was named the initial winner of an auction in June for the intellectual property of the retailer back in June.

The Dream on Me deal does not include BuyBuy Baby's physical stores.  It includes the chain's trademark, digital properties, the mobile platform, business data, and advertising and marketing assets. 

Go Global Retail, a brand management firm that owns children's clothing company Janie and Jack, had wanted to purchase BuyBuy Baby and keep it running, reported CNBC, but was unable to reach a deal on valuation. Sixth Street Partners, the lead creditor of Bed Bath & Beyond (the bankrupt parent company of BuyBuy Baby) decided that it would recover more losses by selling the intellectual property of BuyBuy Baby, auctioning off its leases and moving ahead with liquidation sales, the report said.

“We were being fair in our offer,” Go Global CEO Jeff Streader told CNBC. “Sixth Street was not unreasonable but there was a difference in opinion on valuation." 

In June, Bed Bath & Beyond sold the intellectual assets and online platform of its namesake brand  to Overstock.com for $21.5 million. The online home furnishings retailer plans to start operating its website under the Bed Bath & Beyond name. 

With the changes, customers who visit overstock.com in the U.S. and Canada will be redirected to bedbathandbeyond.com, which will sell furniture and home decor. In addition, Overstock's loyalty program, Club O, is being changed to Welcome Rewards, the name of Bed Bath & Beyond's loyalty program.