Birchbox In Acquisition Talks With a Number Of Retailers, Including Wal-Mart: Recode

Birchbox, the subscription beauty service, has been in talks with a number of retailers about being acquired, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. , according to Recode. Wal-Mart has recently purchased a number of online sites, including ModCloth and Bonobos. It paid more than $3 billion for Jet.com in 2016. Marc Lore, Walmart U.S.'s e-commerce head, was in discussions with Birchbox's Chief Executive and Co-Founder Katia Beauchamp. Birchbox underwent two rounds of layoffs in 2016 after investment stalled. It generates $200 million in annual sales, according to Recode. The company had to secure $15 million in investment last summer after a focus on e-commerce growth. They've raised more $80 million in total and some of that is coming due. Wal-Mart shares are up 0.3% in Wednesday trading, and up 17.7% for the year so far, outpacing the S&P 500 index , which is up 10.3% for 2017 so far.