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YM Strikes Deal to Acquire Five Hudson’s Bay Company Leases, Ivanhoe to Get One
The Hudson’s Bay Company has agreed to sell six more leases covering former stores across Canada, a new court filing shows.
YM has agreed to pay about $5 million for five leases of spaces at Vaughan Mills in Vaughan, Ont.; Tanger Outlet in Ottawa’s Kanata area; Outlet Collection in Winnipeg, CrossIron Mills in the secondary market of Rocky View, Alta.; and Toronto Premium Outlets in Halton Hills, Ont.
The filing shows that YM also agreed to acquire three more leases of spaces at Pickering Town Center in Pickering, Ont.; Skyview Power Centre in Edmonton, and Midtown Plaza in Saskatoon for approximately $1 million, but could not secure landlord waivers. As a result, the proposed deal is not proceeding.
In a separate deal, Ivanhoé Realties has agreed to purchase the lease of the former Bay store at Metropolis at Metrotown mall, a major mall, in Burnaby, B.C., for the modest sum of $20,000.
YM’s retail holdings include the Urban Planet, Bluenotes, West49 and Suzy Shier chains. The company operates about 650 locations across Canada under the leadership of entrepreneur Michael Gold.
Ivanhoé Realties is affiliated with Ivanhoé Cambridge, a division of La Caisse.
The newly proposed deals bring the total number of Bay leases under sale to 34. Billionaire mall owner Ruby Liu has already secured three of those leases at B.C. shopping centres that she owns. She is seeking to acquire 25 more covering former Bay locations elsewhere in B.C., Alberta and Ontario.
Liu paid $2 million apiece for her leases, even though she owns the malls and could have blocked other prospective buyers. If YM’s deal is approved, the company’s lease costs will range from $175,000 to $2.1 million per location. Ivanoe is slated to pay considerably less than both Liu and YM.
Liu continues to face strong opposition from landlords and lenders as she to deploy the former Bay stores in a new department-store chain bearing her name.
The reduced prices indicate that the any leases that the Bay agrees to sell in the future could fetch lower prices.
The 31 deals not yet completed will require the approval of landlorders, lenders, court-appointed monitor Alvarez & Marsal and the Ontario court supervising the Bay’s creditor-protection process.
The court has extended the stay of proceedings that protects the Bay from legal action due to unpaid debts.
Pictured: Outlet Collection mall in Winnipeg.
