Wal-Mart continues to strengthen its digital brand portfolio and announced on Friday that it has acquired Bare Necessities, an online retailer of lingerie, swimwear, knitwear and other underwear.
Wal-Mart declined to disclose the terms of the deal.
The lingerie company was founded in 1998 and will operate independently of Wal-Mart. Over time, the e-commerce giant said it will offer Bare Necessities products on Walmart.com and Jet.com, and Wal-Mart acquired the company for more than $3 billion in 2016 to support its e-commerce business. .
Wal-Mart has long been one of the most active acquirers of startups and has not slowed down in 2018. Just last week, the company announced that it would buy ELOQUII, a large-size clothing brand for women. Prior to this, it paid $225 million for a grocery distribution service called Cornershop. Earlier this year, it completed the acquisition of Flipkart for $16 billion – the largest M&A activity to date.
ModCloth, Bonobos and Moosejaw are other brands owned by Wal-Mart, all of which were acquired in 2017.
Wal-Mart said in a statement that Bare Necessities is in line with its broader acquisition strategy of buying “classes with expertise and variety that can help improve the customer experience.”
As part of the deal, Bare Necessities co-founder and CEO Noah Wrubel will continue to run the company with Chief Operating Officer Bill Richardson. Wrubel will also be responsible for the underwear category at Walmart.com and Jet.com. Naked necessities 170 employees will continue to operate in Edison, New Jersey, with headquarters in New Jersey.
The global lingerie market is expected to generate $60 billion in revenue by 2024, thanks to technically supported direct-to-consumer e-commerce sales.