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(Updated – March 7, 2022 6:35 AM EST)
Ryan Cohen, a co-founder of Chewy (NYSE: CHWY) and Chairman of GameStop (NYSE: GME), has a 9.8% stake in Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY), filings showed.
Cohen, who is a top-5 shareholder in BBBY, is reportedly pushing the company to streamline its strategy and explore strategic alternatives. The billionaire made an investment through his investment business RC Ventures LLC.
In a letter to the board sent yesterday, Cohen sees the company’s strategy as not good enough to prevent further market share losses. Cohen mentioned that the company’s sales were down 14% in the last quarter. Further, the stock was down 44% over the last year versus a gain of 16.5% for the S&P 500 and a gain of 19.7% for peers.
The billionaire is proposing concrete actions to be taken by the current management, such as the sale of the entire company and a spin-off of the Buybuy Baby chain. The company’s strategy should also be narrowed down, Cohen added.
While BBBY is worth around $1.6 billion, Cohen sees the Buybuy Baby business worth several billion dollars.
Cohen added that he is unlikely to become a director himself although he didn’t rule out the nomination of directors if needed.
The company confirmed the letter received Sunday evening and said: “Bed Bath & Beyond’s Board and management team maintain a consistent dialogue with our shareholders and, while we have had no prior contact with RC Ventures, we will carefully review their letter and hope to engage constructively around the ideas they have put forth.” The company added that the board is committed to acting in the best interests of shareholders.
By Senad Karaahmetovic | [email protected]