Hudson’s Bay has reached deals to sell the leases of six store locations, as legal wrangling continues on work to close a deal to sell up to 25 leases to B.C. billionaire Ruby Liu.
Legal filings show clothing retailer YM Inc., which owns brands such as Urban Planet, Bluenotes, West49 and Suzy Shier, has struck a deal to buy five leases for $5.03 million. The documents show it was unable to secure landlord approvals for three other locations.
The five leases include Vaughan Mills in Vaughan, Ont., Tanger Outlets in Kanata, Ont., Outlet Collection in Winnipeg, CrossIron Mills near Calgary, and Toronto Premium Outlets in Halton Hills, Ont.
YM had also sought to buy leases in Pickering, Ont., Saskatoon and a location in Edmonton for $1 million, but landlord waivers weren’t secured for those properties.
Separately, Ivanhoe Realties Inc. has agreed to pay $20,000 for a lease at Metrotown in Burnaby, B.C., that its parent company Ivanhoe Cambridge owns.
The deals, which require court approval before any leases can be transferred, mark the Bay’s latest attempt at recouping money for its lenders and hundreds of creditors who are owed almost $1 billion collectively.
Hudson’s Bay put its leases up for sale earlier this year, after it filed for creditor protection and closed its 80 stores and 16 under its sister Saks banners.
A dozen bidders made offers on a total of 39 properties.
One of the bidders who wanted those spaces was Liu.
B.C. billionaire Ruby Liu is hoping to expand her mall empire by taking over 28 former Hudson’s Bay retail space leases. She joined CBC’s Gloria Macarenko with a translator to share her vision for the department stores, in her first interview with English-language media in Canada.
She paid $6 million for three leases at malls she owns — Woodgrove Centre in Nanaimo, Mayfair Shopping Centre in Victoria and Tsawwassen Mills in Delta. That deal got court approval last month and the leases were transferred back to Liu.
Liu was also chosen by the Bay to buy 25 other leases. Landlords are fighting that sale because they say she has not filed a business plan that is credible or realistic.
Court filings show Hudson’s Bay is looking for more time to close the YM and Ivanhoe transactions, seek approval of the Liu deal and conduct an auction of art holdings, among other measures aimed at maximizing returns to stakeholders.
It’s seeking an extension of creditor protection from the July 31 deadline to Oct. 31 to complete the efforts.