The flash sales platform had raised $290m in venture funding, and was valued at $1bn in a SoftBank-led round in 2011.
Department store chain Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) agreed yesterday to acquire US-based e-commerce company Gilt Groupe for $250m, providing an exit to telecommunications and internet company SoftBank.
The deal came less than five years after Gilt raised $138m at a $1bn valuation, in a round in which SoftBank invested $62.5m.
Founded in 2007, Gilt was one of the first flash sales companies to launch in the US, specialising in fashion. It currently has more than nine million members, and…
