RightStart.com to Explore Merger Options

Right Start Inc., a children’s educational retailer based in Westlake Village, said its online unit, RightStart.com Inc., has hired Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. to help the unit explore merger opportunities. Right Start has been approached about merging RightStart.com with other companies since it decided in May to end its planned initial public offering of the unit, Jerry R. Welch, the company’s chief executive, said. RightStart.com, which sells children’s products over the Internet, is looking at mergers as a way of “accelerating the growth and development” of the online unit, Welch said. Right Start shares rose 63 cents to close at $5.63 on Nasdaq. The shares had dropped 76% this year.