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Dive Brief:
Prolonging its famous Canadian heritage, Hudson’s Bay Co. has agreed to sell its intellectual property to Canadian Tire Corporation for a purchase price of about $30 million Canadian dollars (around $21.4 million as of press time), according to a press release Thursday. CTC has also bid on several lease locations, per a separate release from CTC.
The deal — subject to court approval and other customary terms and conditions — is expected to close this summer.
The IP portfolio for the deal includes the brand labels and designs for the HBC Stripes, Hudson’s Bay Company, The Bay and more. The agreement does not include HBC’s art and artifacts.
Dive Insight:
The latest development in Hudson’s Bay Co.’s roughly 350-year history comes about two months after it filed for bankruptcy. For CTC, the IP acquisition is viewed as a patriotic move.
“It’s disheartening to witness the final days of another great Canadian retailer, and while the circumstances are unfortunate, we’re proud to step in for customers,” Canadian Tire Corporation President and CEO Greg Hicks said in a statement. “Ultimately, customers are at the core of all we do, and by Canadians’ reaction to recent rumours of this news, it is clear they see us as a great home for HBC’s heritage. We are proud to steward these iconic brands into our – and their – next century.”
The deal will add to CTC’s growing list of Canadian banners, which already includes Party City’s Canadian business, Canadian Tire, Mark’s and more.
When HBC filed for bankruptcy protection in March, it cited President Trump’s evolving tariff policies as one of the contributing factors to its struggles. The Canadian department store operated 80 Hudson’s Bay, three Saks Fifth Avenue and 13 Saks Off 5th stores in the country.
The iconic retailer (which had about 9,300 employees as of March) announced its plans a few days later to liquidate the business after failing to secure the finances to restructure.
In April, the Canadian company revealed it would shutter six namesake stores in addition to a Saks Fifth Avenue store that Hudson’s Bay Co. had initially excluded from liquidation plans.
HBC said it had received several bids amid its liquidation process earlier this month, none of which were from insiders. Canadians reportedly took advantage of the retailer’s sales, with HBC noting in court filings that they “generated cash in excess of … operating needs.”