Twelve parties submitted offers for a total of 39 leases, according to court documents.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
A Chinese billionaire mall owner in British Columbia has won the bidding for up to 28 Hudson’s Bay store leases, the company announced on Friday.
Weihong Liu, chairwoman of real estate investment company Central Walk, has agreed to acquire the leases through an affiliate company, Ruby Liu Commercial Investment Corp., “for the purposes of launching a new modern department store concept in Canada,” according to a release from Hudson’s Bay Co.
Ms. Liu has been vocal in recent months on the Chinese social media platform RedNote about her desire to purchase a number of locations and to revive the Bay.
However, it is unclear how Ms. Liu would be able to operate Bay stores under the leases she will acquire, since she does not own the retailer’s name or logos. Last week, Canadian Tire Corp. announced the $30-million purchase of Hudson’s Bay’s intellectual property. That includes the brand names The Bay and Hudson’s Bay Company, the retailer’s coat of arms, various other logos and trademarks, and the historic stripe design that dates back to point blankets used in the fur trade in the 18th century.
Central Walk owns a number of real estate assets in Southeast Asia, and has been seeking to expand its retail investments in Canada, according to the company’s website. In British Columbia, Central Walk owns the Mayfair Shopping Centre in Victoria, Tsawwassen Mills in Tsawwassen, just south of Vancouver, and the Woodgrove Centre in Nanaimo. Woodgrove is currently listed for sales on the Colliers Canada website. All three malls include Hudson’s Bay locations. Central Walk also owns the Arbutus Ridge Golf Club in Cobble Hill.
Canadian Tire to buy Hudson’s Bay stripe design, other intellectual property
Bidding for the store leases was conducted under a separate process from the company’s intellectual property and other assets, but some of the bidders participated in both processes.
Final bids for the leases were due on May 1, and 12 parties submitted offers for a total of 39 leases, according to court documents. Many of the bidders indicated interest in the same locations, and it is not clear whether any other bidders could still take on other leases not purchased by Ms. Liu. A number of the bidders also indicated their bids were submitted in connection with the asset sale, indicating that there was interest among some potential buyers to revive the Bay’s retail operations in some form.
Struggling with mounting losses and carrying $1.1-billion in debt, Hudson’s Bay was granted court protection from its creditors on March 7 under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.
After initial plans to save part of the chain were unsuccessful, Hudson’s Bay began liquidating all of its stores across the country – a process that is now in its final days. The clearance sales are set to conclude next weekend. Once the stores are closed permanently, their furniture and fixtures will be cleared out. Hudson’s Bay is set to vacate all locations no later than the end of June.
“Following careful evaluation of final qualified bids, the board of directors of the Company, in consultation with the Company’s financial advisor and broker, respectively, certain of the Company’s senior lenders and the Court-appointed monitor of the Company, have determined that entering into the Transaction is in the best interests of the Company and its stakeholders,” a news release from Hudson’s Bay said on Friday.
The agreement between Hudson’s Bay and Ms. Liu will require court approval.
“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,” according to the Hudson’s Bay statement.