Gilt Finalizing Sale to Saks Owner, Hudson’s Bay Company | Re/code

"Multiple sources" say it's going for $250M; not a happy "unicorpse" exit for Gilt investors, if so

"The sale would mark a disappointing ending to Gilt’s chapter as a standalone business, after it spent its early years as one of retail’s most exciting companies, raising more than $280 million in venture capital and eventually achieving a $1.1 billion valuation in the process. The company pioneered the “flash sale” e-commerce model in the U.S., selling heavily discounted fashion apparel in limited-time sales that produced a craze of impulse buying. But over the past couple of years, flash sales on the whole have faded in popularity as retailers saturated customer e-mail inboxes with promotions and less high-end excess inventory became available.

The model, however, has found staying power when it is just one tactic within a bigger company. Gilt competitor HauteLook, for example, was acquired a few years back by Nordstrom and has done well since then."

Gilt Finalizing Sale to Saks Owner, Hudson’s Bay Company | Re/code