Hudson’s Bay selling up to 28 store leases to mall owner; closing all stores by June 1
Hudson’s Bay Co. is selling some of its leases to a mall owner that intends to launch a "new, modern department store.”
Canada’s oldest retailer, which filed the Canadian equivalent of bankruptcy in March, has entered into an agreement to sell up to 28 leases to Ruby Liu Commercial Investment Corp., an affiliate of real estate investment company Central Walk. The agreement will require court approval.
In other news, Hudson's Bay is set to close all its stores and terminate 8,000 employees by June 1, reported The Toronto Star. An addition 899 employees are set to lose their jobs around June 15, with some 120 staying on to help with the final wind-down of the company, the report said.
Store Leases
The leases Hudson's Bay is selling to Ruby Liu are for locations in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. In a release, Hudson’s Bay said that Ruby Lee, which is indirectly controlled by Ms. Ruby Liu, wants to acquire the leases “for the purposes of launching a new modern department store concept in Canada.”
Ruby Liu’s parent company Central Walk owns a number of real estate assets in Southeast Asia, and has been looking to expand its retail investments in Canada, reported The Globe and Mail. It currently operates three malls in British Columbia, including Mayfair Shopping Centre in Victoria, Tsawwassen Mills in Tsawwassen, and the Woodgrove Centre in Nanaimo, according to the report.
Bidding for the store leases was conducted under a separate process from the company’s intellectual property and other assets. Earlier this month, Hudson’s Bay entered into an agreement to sell its intellectual property portfolio to Canadian Tire Corp. — one of Canada’s largest retailers — for approximately C$30 million.
Final bids for Hudson Bay’s leases were due on May 1, and 12 parties submitted offers for a total of 39 leases, according to court documents.
“The company remains in discussions with other qualified bidders in respect of certain other lease locations, and will communicate the outcome of those discussions, as appropriate, in the future,” Hudson’s Bay said in the release.
Hudson’s Bay Company includes the retail company Hudson’s Bay, comprising approximately 80 stores which are in the process of being liquidated.
