Bed Bath & Beyond Sells Half Its Real-Estate In An Effort To Turn Around Business

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. BBBY has sold approximately half of its real-estate to Chicago-based private equity firm Oak Street Real Estate Capital LLC, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

What Happened

The New Jersey-based household goods retailer will get about $250 million from the deal, which it will use to pay off debts and buy back shares, according to the Journal.

The real-estate sold to Oak Street includes the company's headquarters, a distribution facility, and an undisclosed number of stores, people familiar with the matter told the Journal. Bed Bath & Beyond will continue to use the spaces on the basis of a long-term lease.

Why It Matters

Bed Bath & Beyond has taken many bold restructuring decisions ever since former Target Corporation TGT chief merchant Mark Tritton took over as the company's CEO in November last year.

Six top executives, including the heads of brand, merchandising, marketing, digital and legal departed from the company just a month after Tritton took charge at the helm.

The change in the leadership is "the first in a number of important steps," Tritton had said at the time.

Bed Bath & Beyond posted below the belt numbers in the second financial quarter of 2019, missing the same-store sales target. The company reported total sales of $2.719, with adjusted earnings per share of 34 cents.

It is set to announce its earnings for the third fiscal quarter of 2019 on Wednesday.

Analysts expect Bed Bath & Beyond to post an earnings per share of 2 cents for the quarter, with total revenue of $2.85 billion.

Price Action

Bed Bath & Beyond's shares closed 1.53% lower at $16.08 on Friday. The shares were further 0.19% down in the after-hours market.

Photo Credit: Anthony92931 via Wikimedia