- What Hudson’s Bay Co. has received court approval to liquidate its Canadian operation
- Why The retailer has sought court protection from creditors seeking $1.1bn in claims
- What next Six stores will remain open in Ontario and Québec
After weeks of uncertainty, the Hudson’s Bay Co. has finally obtained court approval to proceed with the liquidation of almost all of its Canadian business.
The endorsement, given Friday by Ontario Superior Court judge Peter J. Osborne, will result in the embattled Canadian retailer barring its doors at the vast majority of its stores.
As part of the agreement, just six stores in Ontario and Québec will remain open. Among those are the two Hudson’s Bay flagship locations in Toronto, at the Eaton Centre and Yorkdale Shopping Centre. Two of the stores that will remain open — the Yorkdale location and a store in Laval, Qué. — are part of a joint property venture between Hudson’s Bay and RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust.
The decision comes following a week of rocky deliberations between the 355-year-old company and its major creditors, who are seeking to recover $1.1bn in secured debt, mortgages and unpaid inventory. Hudson’s Bay has sought court protection from its many creditors through the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.
In court Friday, a lawyer for the company said it was possible to keep the six locations open after better-than-expected sales results. The company had initially hoped to save half of its 96 Canadian locations, which include the Hudson’s Bay as well as separate imprints under the Saks Fifth Avenue brand.
The impasse with creditors led the company at the beginning of the week to request the court’s permission for the full dissolution of its Canadian operations.
Osborne directed the parties to continue to negotiate, delaying his final ruling until Friday. The company’s Saks locations in the U.S. are not impacted by the ruling.
Liquidation sales are expected to begin as early as Monday.
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