Confirming earlier reports, luxury deals site Gilt City, a subsidiary of Gilt Groupe, Inc., is acquiring the assets of failed daily deals site BuyWithMe, after the latter saw massive layoffs following its failure to raise additional funding. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Former members of BuyWithMe will now have access to all of Gilt’s offerings, including women’s, men’s and children’s apparel, plus accessories, home decor, travel experiences, and gourmet food and wine.
During the transition period, BuyWithMe will carry out the sales previously scheduled in markets that Gilt City serves, and afterwards, members will continue to receive offers via Gilt City and Gilt Groupe.
The acquisition will now allow Gilt City to expand further into its ten markets and expand quickly into new markets over the next year, Gilt City said in a statement. However, Gilt City will not operate in all of BuyWithMe’s markets after the transition is complete.
BuyWithMe, said to be the third largest daily deals site behind Groupon and LivingSocial, previously operated in 13 markets in the U.S. with a customer base in the millions. It had raised around $21.5 million in venture capital from Boston VCs Bain Capital and Matrix Partners. (Reports from BetaBeat put the funding at $30 million).
BuyWithMe began lay offs earlier this month, after having been unsuccessful in its attempts to grow its company through the acquisitions of other daily deals players. The company made its sixth acquisition in September, with its purchase of San Francisco-based TownHog. It previously acquired NYC’s Scoop St, Chicago deals site DealADayOnline, San Francisco deals site Swoop, loyalty company Edhance, and deals site LocalTwist.
BuyWithMe’s domain is already redirecting to buywithme.giltcity.com/city, and lists the 13 combined markets BuyWithMe and Gilt City serve, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, L.A., Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington D.C. BuyWithMe members can now access the site using their same username and password and can use their unused credit at Gilt Groupe, Gilt Taste, Park and Bond or Gilt City.
BuyWithMe is the premier group buying website where leading local merchants offer exclusive limited time offers to members of the BuyWithMe community. Through the power of its numbers, BuyWithMe negotiates handpicked group discounts for its customers to access at spas, restaurants, health clubs, bars and other local activities in their city. BuyWithMe currently publishes daily deals in 12 major DMAs, including Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Phoenix, New York, and San Diego. BuyWithMe is...
Headquartered in New York, Gilt Groupe is a privately held company dedicated to providing its members with access to coveted fashion and luxury lifestyle brands at sample sale prices. Gilt Groupe includes sales for men, women, and home as well as Gilt City (geo-specific), Gilt Taste (food), and Jetsetter (travel). Gilt Groupe hand selects both established and up and coming brands relevant to its membership base. Each Gilt Groupe Shopping Event is designer-specific and held over a one day...
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