Daily News

From Home Furnishing Business

Tempur Sealy Responds to FTC Challenge of Acquisition

July 2, 2024  by HFBusiness Staff in Business Strategy, Industry   

"Tempur Sealy has been working constructively with the FTC to secure regulatory approval for this transaction and is disappointed that the FTC has initiated litigation. We appreciate their efforts to understand the industry and the proposed transaction, but ultimately believe the FTC's perspective does not reflect all the relevant facts and law.

"The bedding industry is highly competitive, offering consumers a diverse selection of products, brands, price points, and purchasing channels. There are thousands of brick-and-mortar storefronts across the United States where consumers can purchase bedding products, only a small fraction of which are operated by Mattress Firm. Additionally, brick-and-mortar retailers and direct-to-consumer bedding brands sell millions of bedding products online each year.

"We continue to believe the combination of Tempur Sealy and Mattress Firm will unlock incremental benefits for all stakeholders, particularly consumers. Mattress Firm's strong retail presence complements Tempur Sealy's manufacturing capabilities, facilitating more targeted innovation, improving the customer experience, and broadening our U.S. omni-channel platform. Additionally, we expect to achieve synergies by leveraging our global scale and vertically integrated infrastructure to drive efficiencies through logistics, product lifecycle management, manufacturing optimization and sourcing initiatives. All of these factors will allow us to further execute on Tempur Sealy's mission to improve people's lives through better sleep.

"We manufacture one hundred percent of the mattresses we sell domestically in the United States, supporting the domestic workforce with thousands of jobs. We have discussed the transaction with the labor unions representing our employees and none have expressed opposition to the transaction. In fact, most of the unions have submitted letters of support, believing that the transaction will benefit their members and not adversely impact workers of other bedding companies that they represent.

"We are and have been open to appropriate commitments to address FTC concerns. Consistent with our operation of the multiple bedding retailers we have acquired in Europe, Mattress Firm will remain a multi-branded retailer, and we have already engaged with numerous Mattress Firm suppliers on post-merger supply agreements and have executed several agreements. In keeping with our multi-brand strategy, we have also offered a guaranteed slot commitment for third-party manufacturers at Mattress Firm stores. Lastly, we have been open to a divestiture of stores and supporting infrastructure.

"We are confident in the procompetitive rationale for this transaction and look forward to presenting the many benefits of the combination. We believe that a successful litigation process can be completed in the coming months, which would allow us to close the transaction in late 2024 or early 2025."

Tempur Sealy intends to conduct a public conference call shortly after the FTC's complaint is publicly available.