On Oct. 26 2019 the Toronto Star reported on "Eye-popping losses, a failed European Expansion and a bid to go private — can Hudson's Bay survive?"
As they struggle with a go-forward strategy under the prying eyes of the public markets, a take-private offer, at $9.45 a share, was tabled in June. Groups of shareholders rose up in opposition, champing for a higher buyout price. On Monday of this week, the company announced that the special committee of the board of directors, which assessed the previous offer as inadequate, had unanimously approved a sweetened offer, at $10.30 a share, which will be put to a vote in December.
The approval of a majority of the minority shareholders must be won in order for the transaction to proceed. Should that happen, the oldest company on the continent, which will celebrate its 350th birthday on May of the coming year, will draw the veil on the current crop of adventurers, led by a real estate operative by the name of Richard Baker.
School of Administrative Studies Professor, Richard Leblanc, cites the standard reasons why any company would attempt this course of action. “To avoid the constant scrutiny of the public markets,” of course, “of earnings pressure, of compliance obligations.” This evokes courtly words and imagery: time and patience, studied analysis and a belief, or hope, that this gambit is all about securing the Bay’s legacy for the long term.
“You want the company to survive,” Leblanc says. “This is one of Canada’s most iconic companies, going back to the 1600s. I’m not sure that Americans, American directors, based on my experience, that they really appreciate the importance of that.”
Read the full story in the Toronto Star here.
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