SHEETS IN THE WIND

Mattress merger?

The owner of Serta Simmons, the nation’s largest mattress maker, is weighing a plan to acquire Mattress Firm if the struggling retailer goes bankrupt, The Post has learned.

Serta Simmons owner Advent International, a Bostonbased buyout firm, may bid for the biggest US mattress retailer once it files for Chapter 11 — a filing that may happen as soon as this week, according to sources.

Advent had been considering a deal to rescue Mattress Firm by scooping it up ahead of a possible bankruptcy filing, sources told The Post last month.

The troubled retailer owes more than $100 million in receivables to Serta, and last year Serta shelled out another $100 million to launch a five-year marketing partnership with Mattress Firm across its 3,300 stores.

It appears, however, that Advent and Mattress Firm have failed to agree on a price, according to sources briefed on the talks.

Mattress Firm, meanwhile, has since agreed to give Serta Simmons “preferred vendor” status in a bankruptcy so it would be paid in full for its receivables, a source said — an unusual move that would put it ahead of debt holders, according to a source who’s close to the situation.

An Advent acquisition of Mattress Firm would likely preserve Serta Simmons’ status as the dominant supplier to Mattress Firm — a position that was bolstered last year when the retailer dropped Tempur Sealy in a contract dispute.

“If Advent bought it, Tempur Sealy [still] would be out,” an industry source said.

Tempur’s shares surged 11 percent on Wednesday as investors bet that a Mattress Firm bankruptcy — a possibility reported this week by Reuters — could pave the way for Tempur’s beds to return.

But Mattress Firm CEO Steve Stagner and Tempur CEO Scott Thompson aren’t on friendly terms, and, under Stagner, Mattress Firm will likely not invite Tempur back, the source said. Steinhoff International, which acquired Mattress Firm in 2016 for $2.6 billion, does not have any known plans to replace Stagner.

“There will be no change if the CEOs don’t change,” the source said.

After buying Mattress Firm, Steinhoff scooped up the Long Island-based Sleepy’s for $780 million.

Mattress Firm could fetch a price close to $1 billion in a bankruptcy auction as it closes 600 to 700 stores, sources said.

Advent declined to comment. Mattress Firm did not return calls.