Hudson’s Bay Company ULC, the historic Canadian retailer behind Hudson’s Bay and TheBay.com, obtained CCAA protection on March 7.
The company was founded in 1670 and is the oldest in North America. Once having a right of sole trade and commerce over an expansive area of land including parts of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Nunavut, Ontario and Québec, Hudson's Bay is an integral part of Canada's heritage and history. It is now Canada’s most prominent department store, currently operating 80 Hudson’s Bay-branded stores, as well as 16 stores operating as Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks OFF 5TH.
The company went private in 2020 as a result of operational and financial challenges, but was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns almost immediately afterward. It took steps to address its financial and operational challenges, including the appointment of a new CEO and investing approximately $130 million into an e-commerce expansion strategy to mitigate the decline in foot traffic at its retail stores.
Most recently, the ongoing trade tensions with the US and issues related to tariffs have made it extremely challenging for Hudson’s Bay to raise financing and monetize its real estate assets. The company is struggling to make payments to creditors and, absent additional funding, would have been unable to meet its employee payroll obligations within the next several days.
In the CCAA proceedings, Hudson’s Bay plans to facilitate an orderly liquidation of selected stores and realign operations around a core group of high-performing retail locations, and to monetize certain retail leases that hold value due to below-market rent.
Restore Capital, an affiliate of Hilco Global, is providing a DIP loan together with other lenders.
Alvarez & Marsal is the monitor.
Reflect Advisors are financial advisors to HBC and Richter is financial advisor to Restore and Bank of America.
Counsel is Stikeman Elliott for the company, Bennett Jones for the monitor, Blakes for Restore, Cassels for Hilco, Goodmans for RioCan, Osler for Pathlight Capital, and Torys for Cadillac Fairview.
