Latest news with #JudgeOsborne
CTV News
04-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Court approves sale of Hudson's Bay trademarks to Canadian Tire
This composite image shows signage of Canadian Tire, left, and the Bay. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick, Pawel Dwulit Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd.'s historic purchase of Hudson's Bay trademarks will go ahead after an Ontario judge granted permission for the deal. Judge Peter Osborne says the $30-million deal was the best possible outcome given the circumstances facing the Bay. The deal will give Canadian Tire rights to the Bay name, its coat of arms and its iconic stripes. Court documents have also shown the deal includes the Bay's Distinctly Home brand, its Hudson North apparel line, trademarks like 'Bay Days' and the Zellers catchphrase 'lowest price is the law' as well as a contract with Pendleton Woolen Mills, an Oregon-based blanket and clothing maker. The sale to Canadian Tire was the buzziest matter Osborne presided over Tuesday. At the same court hearing, he also approved a receivership application for a joint real estate venture Hudson's Bay was part of and made a declaration helping employees receive funding to recover from the collapse of their employer. The approvals came months after Canada's oldest company filed for creditor protection and days after it closed all 96 of the stores it ran under its Bay and Saks banners on Sunday. Osborne called the weekend closures 'a milestone, albeit an unhappy one' that amounts to 'the end of an era.' Hudson's Bay has said the sale and closures were necessary because the 355-year-old company was not able to attract an investor to keep some semblance of the current business alive. Canadian Tire, which also owns SportChek, Party City, Mark's and Pro Hockey Life, wound up being the winner of the Bay's trademarks after the ailing company and its advisers invited 407 people and firms to bid on the intellectual property and other assets. Ashley Taylor, a lawyer for Hudson's Bay, told Osborne that 17 bids were received. Thirteen were for intellectual property but Canadian Tire's was superior, he said. 'The Canadian Tire transaction represents the highest and best process offer resulting from a competitive process,' Taylor said. What precisely gave Canadian Tire the edge is contained in a document Taylor has asked the court to seal because it contains commercially sensitive information, including the amounts offered by the next highest bidders. Osborne granted the request. The Canadian Tire deal is the first of several Taylor is expected to ask a court to approve. He said Hudson's Bay will eventually return to court to get approval for B.C. mall owner Ruby Liu to take over up to 28 Bay leases to develop a new department store. That deal needs the support of landlords. He also teased that two other deals concerning some of the other properties the Bay used will be announced soon. The Canadian Tire deal was being discussed at a hearing that spanned several issues, including a joint real estate venture the Bay has with RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust. The venture has leases for 12 properties the department store used, but RioCan wanted to put the partnership into receivership to protect its stakeholders and maximize the value it can recover. Receivership is a process allowing a third-party to take control of a company's assets, oversee their liquidation and repay creditors. Joseph Pasquariello, a lawyer for RioCan, wanted FTI Consulting Canada appointed as the receiver because his client's 'dollars are on the line' and it wants timely solutions. Osborne approved Pasquariello's request, saying it was 'just and convenient.' Osborne also recognized Hudson's Bay as the former employer of all the department store's workers who have been terminated. The declaration allows Bay's 9,364 staff, including more than 8,300 who have already lost their jobs, to recoup money they may be owed from the retailer under the Wage Earner Protection Program Act. People who qualify under the federal program can earn up to $8,844.22 this year. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 3, 2025.
CTV News
03-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Court approves sale of Hudson's Bay trademarks to Canadian Tire
This composite image shows signage of Canadian Tire, left, and the Bay. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick, Pawel Dwulit Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd.'s historic purchase of Hudson's Bay trademarks will go ahead after an Ontario judge granted permission for the deal. Judge Peter Osborne says the $30-million deal was the best possible outcome given the circumstances facing the Bay. The deal will give Canadian Tire rights to the Bay name, its coat of arms and its iconic stripes. Court documents have also shown the deal includes the Bay's Distinctly Home brand, its Hudson North apparel line, trademarks like 'Bay Days' and the Zellers catchphrase 'lowest price is the law' as well as a contract with Pendleton Woolen Mills, an Oregon-based blanket and clothing maker. The sale to Canadian Tire was the buzziest matter Osborne presided over Tuesday. At the same court hearing, he also approved a receivership application for a joint real estate venture Hudson's Bay was part of and made a declaration helping employees receive funding to recover from the collapse of their employer. The approvals came months after Canada's oldest company filed for creditor protection and days after it closed all 96 of the stores it ran under its Bay and Saks banners on Sunday. Osborne called the weekend closures 'a milestone, albeit an unhappy one' that amounts to 'the end of an era.' Hudson's Bay has said the sale and closures were necessary because the 355-year-old company was not able to attract an investor to keep some semblance of the current business alive. Canadian Tire, which also owns SportChek, Party City, Mark's and Pro Hockey Life, wound up being the winner of the Bay's trademarks after the ailing company and its advisers invited 407 people and firms to bid on the intellectual property and other assets. Ashley Taylor, a lawyer for Hudson's Bay, told Osborne that 17 bids were received. Thirteen were for intellectual property but Canadian Tire's was superior, he said. 'The Canadian Tire transaction represents the highest and best process offer resulting from a competitive process,' Taylor said. What precisely gave Canadian Tire the edge is contained in a document Taylor has asked the court to seal because it contains commercially sensitive information, including the amounts offered by the next highest bidders. Osborne granted the request. The Canadian Tire deal is the first of several Taylor is expected to ask a court to approve. He said Hudson's Bay will eventually return to court to get approval for B.C. mall owner Ruby Liu to take over up to 28 Bay leases to develop a new department store. That deal needs the support of landlords. He also teased that two other deals concerning some of the other properties the Bay used will be announced soon. The Canadian Tire deal was being discussed at a hearing that spanned several issues, including a joint real estate venture the Bay has with RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust. The venture has leases for 12 properties the department store used, but RioCan wanted to put the partnership into receivership to protect its stakeholders and maximize the value it can recover. Receivership is a process allowing a third-party to take control of a company's assets, oversee their liquidation and repay creditors. Joseph Pasquariello, a lawyer for RioCan, wanted FTI Consulting Canada appointed as the receiver because his client's 'dollars are on the line' and it wants timely solutions. Osborne approved Pasquariello's request, saying it was 'just and convenient.' Osborne also recognized Hudson's Bay as the former employer of all the department store's workers who have been terminated. The declaration allows Bay's 9,364 staff, including more than 8,300 who have already lost their jobs, to recoup money they may be owed from the retailer under the Wage Earner Protection Program Act. People who qualify under the federal program can earn up to $8,844.22 this year. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 3, 2025. Companies in this story: (TSX:CTC.A)
CTV News
13-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Hudson's Bay expected back in court to extend creditor protection
TORONTO — Hudson's Bay is due to return to an Ontario court today for the first time in roughly two weeks to seek a reprieve from the hundreds of businesses it owes money. The department store is expected to use the Tuesday morning appearance to ask Judge Peter Osborne to stretch the period of time it is protected from its creditors to July 31 rather than ending May 15. The extension request comes as the business, which holds the title of Canada's oldest company, appears to be hurtling toward a new future. After filing for creditor protection in March because it was having trouble paying 26 pages' worth of landlords, vendors and suppliers almost $1 billion they were collectively owed, Hudson's Bay put itself, its assets and its leases up for sale. Seventeen bidders want the entire business or treasures like its intellectual property. Twelve are vying for 39 leases. In a court filing, the retailer said an extension to the creditor protection it was first granted in March will help the company complete these sales processes and finish liquidating its 80 Bay stores and 16 Saks banners. The additional time would mean the company could 'maximize value for the benefit of the (Bay) and their stakeholders,' the filing said. So far, proceeds generated by the liquidation sales wrapping at the end of the month have exceeded even Hudson's Bay's expectations several times. Between March 8 and 14, the company made $21 million, beating its own estimates by about $7.4 million and allowing it to return some last-minute financing it received from Restore Capital that month to keep it afloat, court documents show. Between April 19 and May 2, sales surpassed $129 million, about $36.8 million more than the company initially forecast, the documents reveal. Because the cash is 'in excess of the applicants' operating needs,' the Bay wants to repay as much as $165 million to its senior lenders, Bank of America and Restore Capital LLC. It is expected to ask the court on Tuesday for permission to make these repayments. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2025. Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press
