TORONTO — The executives that led Canada’s oldest company to its recent collapse won’t be handed the reins of Hudson’s Bay as part of its restructuring process, new court documents indicate.
An affidavit filed Wednesday by Jennifer Bewley, chief financial officer of the retailer's parent company, indicates no insiders submitted a bid for the 355-year-old business, its assets or its leases.
The Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act defines insiders as people who control a business, whether alone or through a group.
Bewley’s admission that no bidders fit that definition puts an end to any possibility of Hudson's Bay governor and executive chairman Richard Baker regaining control of the business he has presided over since 2008.
It also stamps out speculation that someone embedded in the business was considering an offer for the company or its treasures, such as the rights to its famed Stripes motif or the hundreds of thousands of square feet of retail space it rents.
Speculation arose in April when an "insider protocol" document was sent to lawyers involved in the Bay’s creditor protection case. The document described new procedures that would ensure a sales process being run to find a new owner for the Bay be conducted with “integrity and fairness."
A note accompanying the document said it was being enacted “in view of a potential insider bid that may involve certain members of management,” who were not named.
Insiders had to notify those running the Bay’s sales processes they were exploring a bid sooner than firms or potential investors not directly linked to the business.
However, both groups had until April 30 to make binding offers for the company and its intellectual property, and until May 1 to make binding bids for leases.
Hudson’s Bay has not said how many offers have been received for the entire business or its intellectual property, but Bewley said "numerous bids" have been made.
Toronto investment manager Urbana Corp. went public with its offer for Hudson's Bay's intellectual property, while Chinese billionaire Weihong Liu has said on social media that she wants to purchase stores to “restore The Bay to its glory."
Two sources familiar with the sales process, who are not being named because they were not authorized to speak about the matter, have also told The Canadian Press that Canadian Tire has made a bid for some of the faltering department store's intellectual property. Canadian Tire has not commented on that possibility.
If several similar bids are made for the business or its assets, the company will host an auction by May 16 and seek court approval for a buyer by May 30.
In the coming months, Hudson's Bay will also host a separate auction with Heffel Gallery for 4,400 pieces of art and artifacts, including the royal charter that started the business.
It will wind up the process to find takers for leases by mid-June and hand back properties that received no bids by mid-July.
An April 22 court filing revealed 18 unnamed parties submitted letters of intent expressing interest in a total of 65 leases.
Many of the 18 made a play for several of the same leases and some of the interested parties are landlords, the document said. Landlords often bid on their own leases during such processes in the hope of having more control over what tenants fill their spaces.
Bewley's affidavit said no bids were made for Saks Off Fifth stores at Park Royal Shopping Centre in Vancouver, B.C. and Place Ste-Foy in Quebec, so they will be turned back over to their landlords.
Bewley also said the company is speeding up some of the timelines it had to close its 80 Hudson's Bay stores and 16 it ran under the Saks banners, which are currently in liquidation sales.
Nine of its 13 Saks Off Fifth stores closed by April 27 and Bewley said the balance are anticipated to shutter by June 1. The remainder of its 96 stores will close by June 15.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 7, 2025.
Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press
