Bed, Bath & Beyond Gets Bargain Price for One Kings Lane
Talk about a deal! One Kings Lane, an online furnishings retailer, sold for less than $30 million to Bed Bath & Beyond, according to Recode. The purchase price represents a huge discount from One Kings Lane's valuation of $900 million just two years ago, when it raised over $100 million from investors. However, the sale of the company isn't a shock. One Kings Lane has been searching for a buyer since January, and after multiple rounds of layoffs and a saturated market, the once-hot startup had lost its luster.
Total Retail's Take: This is the third acquisition of an e-commerce startup within the last two months. Following the announcements of Dollar Shave Club's $1 billion sale to Unilever and Wal-Mart's tentative $3.3 billion acquisition of Jet.com, One Kings Lane's story reminds us just how volatile the e-commerce environment is right now. While the sale of One Kings Lane didn't come as a shock, the price tag certainly is. Consider that One Kings Lane sold at a mere 3 percent of its peak value, adding it to the likes of Fab.com and Gilt Groupe, which were also acquired for bargain prices.
