Bensons for Beds has bought Eve Sleep hours after the online mattress specialist called in administrators, having succumbed to what its chief executive described as an “economic tsunami”.
Bensons, which has 166 stores and is owned by the private equity group Alteri Investors, said it had bought the website, brand and other related assets of Eve, including its creative content, in an attempt to widen its appeal to a younger customer.
“Eve Sleep is a brand that we know resonates strongly with key customer groups and we’re looking forward to unlocking its full potential as it takes advantage of our scale and reach.” said the chief executive of Bensons for Beds, Nick Collard.
Eve, whose share price has slumped more than 90% this year, had said it had received a number of indicative offers from potential buyers before entering administration that had not progressed beyond due diligence.
Announcing the collapse, its chief executive, Cheryl Calverley, had said: “It is heartbreaking to have to acknowledge that the best way to preserve value for creditors, those partners and suppliers that have helped us on this journey, is to now terminate the formal sale process and appoint administrators.”
Calverley said the business, which operates in the UK, Ireland and France, had tried to restructure and reduce its cost base but lacked the scale to continue as an independent business.
“The scale of Eve was simply insufficient to withstand the economic tsunami that has gathered momentum over the past six months,” Calverley said. “We have moved heaven and earth to seek a way forward as an independent or acquired business, but ultimately prevailing market conditions just do not support that.”
The London-based company employs 21 staff, who it is understood are not likely to be taken on by Bensons.
Eve Sleep floated on the stock market in 2017 as a self-styled tech company, and sales were rising sharply. It delivered mattresses in a box with a free pickup and return offer within 100 days if customers were not happy with the product.
The failure of Eve Sleep, which was founded in 2015 and is based in Camden, north London, comes as the online furniture retailer Made.com said it had entered talks with a number of companies with the aim of securing a rescue deal by the end of the month.
Last month, Made.com, which has increasingly struggled as cash-strapped consumers stop spending on “big ticket” items, cut more than one-third of its staff and kicked off a process to find a buyer or emergency investment.
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“The board has received a number of non-binding indicative proposals,” the company said. “Having reviewed these proposals, the board has invited a select number of parties to progress towards firm offers by the end of October, following a due diligence process.”
The company, which floated on the London Stock Exchange last year, said that owing to the parlous state of its finances any deal would require a prospective buyer to provide interim financing at the offer stage to keep Made.com running.
“Based on the working capital requirements of the group, any firm offer would require interim financing to be put in place at the time that firm offers are expected, which the parties involved in the process are aware of,” it said.
Since the start of the year, the London-based Made.com has implemented measures in an attempt to preserve its finances, including limiting forward purchasing of inventory, implementing a hiring freeze, halting marketing spend and reducing capital expenditure.