Bensons for Beds has bought the Eve Sleep mattress brand from administrators. The deal, which includes the brand, website and related intellectual property, was announced hours after Eve Sleep said it would be calling in the administrators after facing an “economic tsunami”. Bensons for Beds is taking over the Eve Sleep brand and website from today.
Bensons for Beds chief executive officer Nick Collard says: “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 .
“What’s more, bringing in Eve Sleep alongside our own growing portfolio of high quality in-house brands will help us widen Bensons appeal to a broader set of customers.
“With the backing of our owner, Alteri Investors, this is another indication that we are delivering on our pledge to fulfil the promise of the Bensons for Beds brand itself – not just as a retailer of market leading proprietary brands, but with a distinctive and coherent set of owned brand sleep solutions for any customer, both digitally and through our stores.”
Bensons for Beds, which is ranked Top150 in RXUK Top500 research, sells online and from 166 stores today and aims to create a network of 180 to 190 physical locations over the next two years. Camden-based Eve Sleep joins sleep brands including Slumberland and Staples & Co at its new parent company.
The acquisition comes soon after Bensons for Beds won funding from its backers, Alteri Investors, to grow the business and to invest in the digital transformation of the business. Both aims are met in today’s acquisition of digital native Eve Sleep from administrators.
Gavin George, CEO of Alteri Investors, said: “It is encouraging to see Bensons continuing to strengthen its position in what remains a challenging market.
“Eve Sleep is a strong brand name that resonates with a different demographic of younger consumers. Alteri is pleased to back Bensons’ management in the acquisition of a brand which will augment the group’s offer, widen its appeal and boost its digital credentials.”
Matt Ingram and Jimmy Saunders from Kroll have been appointed as joint administrators to handle the affairs of Eve Sleep and to manage the sale of the brand.
Matt Ingram, managing director of Kroll, says: “Eve Sleep is a well-established brand with huge visibility across the UK, however it faced a challenging market backdrop over the past year. The company launched a formal sales process in June 2022 but with UK consumer confidence reaching a record low in August 2022 this process was unsuccessful.”
Eve Sleep was founded in 2015 and listed on AIM in May 2017. Eve currently sells its products through a retail partnership with DFS and direct to customers through its website.
‘Economic tsunami’
The deal comes hours after Cheryl Calverley, chief executive of Eve Sleep, said Eve’s scale had been “simply insufficient to withstand the economic tsunami that has gathered momentum over the past six moths.” She 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.
“Having seen the year start so brightly, with the efforts of the team over the past three years in rebuilding eve into a business fit for profitable growth coming to fruition, the frustration at the unprecedented downturn in the market over February and March was felt all the more keenly.”
And she added: “I want to thank, with all my heart the brilliant team here at Eve, whose incredible loyalty, passion, and commitment to serve customers in our inimitable eve fashion through some very trying times, has been downright inspirational. On behalf of the board, I also want to thank shareholders for their loyalty and support; their position, and inevitable disappointment is keenly felt. Whilst it may be scant succor in the face of the current situation, 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.”
Eve Sleep shares have now been suspended on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange.
