Bed Bath & Beyond has found a lender to help boost its cash as it tries to stabilize its finances, according to a Wall Street Journal report that cited anonymous sources.
According to the Journal, JPMorgan Chase carried out a marketing process for Bed Bath & Beyond as the struggling retailer sought a loan of around $375 million.
Reporters with the newspaper wrote that the loan deal would “provide liquidity and give vendors confidence they can continue to ship goods to Bed Bath & Beyond.”
The size and terms of the deal weren’t apparent when the Journal published. Bed Bath & Beyond did not immediately respond to Retail Dive’s request for comment.
Bloomberg has reported that some suppliers had pared back or stopped shipments to the retailer because of late payments.
Sales at the retailer have declined steeply in recent periods at Bed Bath & Beyond as supply chain issues led to out-of-stocks and consumers began reining in spending on home goods and other discretionary categories in the face of steep inflation.
This week the retailer was downgraded at S&P Global Ratings because of poor sales, liquidity constraints, looming maturities and the possibility of a distressed debt exchange or default.
Bed Bath Beyond signaled recently that it was working with outside advisers on strengthening its balance sheet.
Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData, said in emailed comments about the reported loan that it would “buy the company some desperately needed time and probably saves it from the immediate necessity of bankruptcy,” but he also noted that because of interest payments and repayment “[t]he debt will further swamp a balance sheet that is already drowning in red ink.”
Saunders added that Bed Bath & Beyond will likely need to sell off its valuable BuyBuy Baby business to shore up its finances as well as “fix the supply chain problems and rethink the proposition” at the retailer.
