Business news: furniture brand Hem has acquired the rights to over 200 products from Italian design company Discipline (+ slideshow).
Hem – the brand set up by Fab.com and One Nordic last year – has bought the design rights and inventory for the Discipline furniture and homeware in an all-cash deal.
The range of Discpline products, including pinching candleholders by Nendo and a cork desk tidy by James Irvine, will be available from Hem's website in the coming weeks.
"The Discipline designs and designers are a perfect match for our Hem vision of Design Made Easy," said Hem CEO, Jason Goldberg. "We are excited to integrate the Discipline products into our full-stack, private-label design concept."
According to a statement from Hem, Milan-based Discipline is in the process of restructuring its business. Discipline CEO Renato Preti said: "We are happy that the Discipline designs will live on and thrive at Hem."
Hem was formed in July last year when Goldberg's online retail website Fab.com acquired Finnish company One Nordic.
Goldberg is working with One Nordic founders Petrus Palmér and Joel Roos to expand Hem's range of products, which already includes easy-to-ship designs by Luca Nichetto, Form Us With Love and GamFratesi.
"We strive to work with the most relevant designers to bring to market the most relevant products," said Palmér, now Hem's global creative director. "The Discipline designers are some of the best of the best and we are thrilled to welcome them into the Hem family."
Hem currently ships directly to consumers in more than 30 countries, including every European country and the United States.
Discipline was launched in 2012 by Renato Preti. Other products from Discipline's range that will join the Hem collection include pieces by Lars Beller Fjetland, DING3000, Nao Tamura and Max Lamb – see the full list here.
In November, Fab was reportedly in takeover talks with electronics development company PCH International as part of a deal worth $15 million (£9.5 million) – even though it was valued at $1 billion (£638 million) just over a year before.
Fab co-founder Bradford Shellhammer – who left the company in 2013 – has gone on to set up online design marketplace Bezar, announced in January.