Bed Bath & Beyond shares just shot up 15%: here’s the catalyst

Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (NASDAQ: BBBY) shot up nearly 15% minutes before the closing bell on a WSJ report that the U.S. retailer has received bids for its BuyBuy Baby business.

Who’s interested in buying the baby apparel retailer?

Anonymous sources told the Wall Street Journal on Friday evening that Cerberus Capital Management and Tailwind Acquisition Corp (private equity firms) are interested in buying the American retail chain that sells baby clothes, strollers, and other items.

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Details of the proposals are yet to be disclosed. Bed Bath & Beyond has not made an official comment on the news so far.

The report offered a much-needed rebound to Bed Bath & Beyond, which otherwise was down 40% in the stock market this month, prior to Friday’s price action.

BBBY recently signed a deal with Ryan Cohen

The news comes shortly after Bed Bath & Beyond signed an agreement with Ryan Cohen (activist investor) to launch a strategic review of BuyBuy Baby. The co-founder of Chewy and chairman of GameStop took a 9.80% stake in BBBY in March.

As a separate company, Cohen argued, BuyBuy Baby could be valued at several billion dollars. A partial or full sale of the business, therefore, could help Bed Bath & Beyond in strengthening its balance sheet and reducing share count.

The deal with Cohen also had BBBY appoint three new independent directors to its board. Earlier in April, the New Jersey-headquartered company reported a surprise loss for its fiscal Q4.