Hudson’s Bay Co eyeing acquisition of bankrupt Dutch department store chain V&D

Posted by: privatefinancetips in BLOG, Financial Advisor Mar 27, 2016

TORONTO – Hudson’s Bay Co. could be bulking up even further.

Would Hudson’s Bay Co’s US$250-million Gilt trip be well worth the price?

Reports that Hudson’s Bay Co. is looking to buy online “flash-sale” retailer Gilt.com for US$250 million had some in the market questioning why the Toronto mall chain may wish to acquire a Web retailer whose estimated value had slid from US$1-billion four years ago.

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The Toronto-based who owns Saks Fifth Ave. and Lord & Taylor is incorporated in the running to purchase bankrupt mall chain V&D from the Netherlands, according to multiple Dutch media reports.

Several recent surveys in the Dutch media, citing sources near to the negotiations, say HBC governor Richard Baker is squaring off for that stores against Dutch retail and real estate investor Roland Kahn of Cool Investments, owner of the Netherlands-based retail chains CoolCat, M & S Mode, America Today and also the lingerie brand Sapph.

“Many landlords are charmed by (HBC’s) serious curiosity about a considerable part of the V&D buildings,” says a translated report in the publication AD.

“The issue is that both (Kahn) and HBC want merely a area of the V&D buildings, especially those in large cities. Most owners, however, have buildings both in small and big municipalities.”

HBC didn’t confirm or deny the reports when reached for comment Wednesday. “It is company policy not to comment on rumour or speculation,” HBC spokeswoman Tiffany Bourr said within an email.

Such an offer would be the second this year for HBC, that has executed numerous savvy property acquisitions to grow and diversify its real estate and store network, which it is also expanding organically.

Last month, HBC announced its US$250-million purchase of online retailer Gilt.com, a “flash-sale” site that it’ll use to blend with its network of off-price stores and enhance the company’s mobile shopping capabilities.

In September, HBC closed its $3.8-billion acquisition of German mall chain Galeria Kaufhof, with 102 locations in Germany and 16 underneath the banner Galeria Inno in Belgium. Following the completion of the Galeria acquisition last September, HBC said hello now generated a majority of its sales from outside of the United States.

“We think that there are tremendous opportunities to grow the Kaufhof and Inno banners, and look forward to working with the present management team to complete on our combined vision for the future of this business,” Jerry Storch, HBC’s CEO, said at the time. “This vision includes dramatic enhancements towards the customer experience through the introduction of new brands, a focus on high-performing merchandise categories, substantial expansion of Kaufhof’s digital capabilities and, over time, introduction of Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks Off Fifth in to the German market.”

This week, the Dutch publication Quote, citing sources near to Kaufhof, said insiders expect HBC will renovate V&D’s buildings in order to make method for its very own stores, giving the Canadian retailer a good foothold in to the Netherlands. The German chain has strong similarities with V&D, according to Quote.

Netherlands-based publication NRC said V&D’s bankruptcy trustees will asses the plans of the most promising candidates next week.

Next week also marks the grand opening date for that first Saks Fifth Avenue store in Canada, adjacent to the flagship Hudson’s Bay store in downtown Toronto.

Financial Post

hshaw@nationalpost.com
Twitter.com/HollieKShaw