Casper Sells Canadian Operations to Sleep Country

In a battle for hegemony in Canada’s retail mattress market, Casper has surrendered to the home team, Sleep Country Canada Holdings.

Sleep Country has agreed to acquire 100% ownership of all of the Canadian assets of Casper for $20.6M. Sleep Country also will get a $4.5M marketing transition fee from Casper during the next four years and receive three-year warrants that the company could convert into a 1% stake in Casper.

Sleep Country also invested $20M in five-year convertible notes that could convert into about 5% of Casper’s shares, according to a report in Chain Store Age.

Casper, which debuted as an online startup in 2014, pioneered the memory foam mattress-in-a-box concept, quickly expanding into Canada through its e-commerce website. In recent years, the company has established 72 bricks-and-mortar outlets, including six stores in Canada.

In addition to mattresses, the outlets offer accoutrements like pillows, bedding and bedroom furniture. After going public in 2020, Casper was acquired by Durational Capital Management and taken private again in 2022.

Casper also sells its mattresses through other mattress retailers, including Sleep Country, which entered into a partnership in 2021 to sell the Casper brand in Sleep Country stores and online.

Sleep Country operates 290 corporate-owned stores and 20 warehouses across Canada.

“We are excited to acquire 100% of Casper’s Canadian retail business, who invested over $1 billion globally to build a leading brand that elevated the importance of a good night’s sleep for all,” said Stewart Schaefer, CEO of Sleep Country, in a statement.

“With their omnichannel business, and their mission to deliver a frictionless and elevated sleep retail experience, they align perfectly with our strategic omnichannel journey that began four years ago,” Schaefer said.

“We are thrilled to expand upon our retail journey by partnering up with one of North America’s top sleep retailers,” Emilie Arel, CEO of Casper, said in a statement.

“Sleep Country has been a retail mattress legacy for almost three decades and sharing best practices with this leading retailer only helps accelerate our expertise and rapid growth in the retail omnichannel space.” Arel said.

This is not the first direct-to-consumer acquisition for Sleep Country. In 2018, the company bought online mattress firm Endy for $89M. Sleep Country is Canada’s leading specialty sleep retailer, with brands including Sleep Country Canada, Dormez-vous, Endy, Hush and Silk & Snow.