Jan 4, 2019
2 minutes
Richard Baker makes move to control HBC
Jan 4, 2019
Richard Baker has made a move to control even more of the company that he built. The Hudson’s Bay's executive chairman is buying close to a 10 percent stake in the company from the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
Approximately $18 million in shares were purchased at a price of CAD $9.45 per share, representing 115 percent of the "market price" determined.
"I am very pleased to increase my significant ownership in HBC and further demonstrate my commitment to the company," said Richard Baker, in a news statement.
"Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan has been a valued partner since 2013 and I thank them for their support through their investment period."
The deal will give Baker and his investment partners a 70 percent stake in Hudson’s Bay, making them the largest shareholders.
The deal comes just one day after Lord & Taylor’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue officially closed for good.
The 11-storey building closed on Wednesday afternoon after 104 years in the business. One last major blowout sale was held over the Holiday season leaving to store virtually empty. The space was sold to WeWork in 2017, a space-leasing company, for over $850 million.
Department store-owner, Canada’s Hudson’s Bay Co., announced back in June that it would sell up to ten Lord & Taylor stores, including the flagship Manhattan location, as its quarterly loss widened following declines in its European and Saks Off 5th divisions.
The department store chain, which equally owns Saks Fifth Avenue, has been hit from the reality of online sales, leaving a number of its brick-and-mortar locations with little options.
Still, Lord & Taylor, which was founded in 1826 and picked up by the Hudson’s Bay in 2012, continues to operate 45 other locations, though its footprint is only expected to continue to shrink.
Last year, HBC equally sold its unprofitable online brand Gil.
In the last reported quarter, the department store chain reported a wider loss of $164 million CAD, or 69 Canadian cents a share.
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