Seventeen companies made bids for the assets of Hudson’s Bay Co. as the 355-year-old retail chain that opened its first Canadian department store in Winnipeg in 1881 continues to liquidate items from its nearly 100 outlets throughout Canada.
Alvarez & Marsal Canada, the court-appointed monitor overseeing the bankruptcy proceedings in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, posted an update late last week that 17 parties submitted bids for HBC's assets before the deadline at the end of last month.
According to the report, Alvarez & Marsal Canada reached out to 407 possible investors, and 54 of those parties executed non-disclosure agreements. Some of the parties had also submitted bids under the lease monetization process.
A total of 12 parties submitted qualified bids on 39 leases through HBC's lease monetization process, with multiple bids being for the same location, the report said. No qualifying bids were submitted for 62 leases, the report said.
Hudson's Bay was one of Canada's best-known retail chains, with 32 stores in Ontario, 16 in British Columbia, 13 in Quebec, 13 in Alberta and two each in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia. Its properties included large downtown stores in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, which municipal authorities evaluated at $64.1 million.
The identities of the bidders remain confidential. However, Weihong Liu, who owns the Central Walk mall in Vancouver, publicly stated her intention to acquire and operate up to 25 Hudson’s Bay stores.
The liquidation sale at all of the Hudson’s Bay stores and three Saks Fifth Avenue stores are anticipated to continue until June 1, according to the report.
HBC filed for creditor protection in March, citing billions of dollars in debt. HBC operated 80 Hudson's Bay stores and 16 others under a license agreement as Saks Off 5th and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Nine of the Saks Off 5th stores closed on or about April 27, with the remaining four stores expected to close on or prior to June 1, according to Alvarez & Marsal's latest monitor report.
HBC has received an extension of stay proceedings from the court until July 31 to allow it to complete the liquidation process.