As expected, the Hudson’s Bay Co. has received approval from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to become a private company.
Richard Baker, HBC’s executive chairman, and a handful of other key continuing shareholders will own the company, while the company’s other shareholders will receive 11 Canadian dollars per share in cash.
The deal is expected to be finalized on or around Tuesday. The privatization plan was overwhelmingly approved by the company’s shareholders at a meeting held Thursday.
The common shares of HBC will be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange and the company will no longer issue public financial reports that were required under securities laws.
Initially, Baker’s group in June 2019 offered 9.45 Canadian dollars per share to take HBC private. Last October, the offer was raised to 10.30 Canadian dollars, and subsequently raised to 11 Canadian dollars, matching the offer from Catalyst Capital, an activist investor to win over enough minority shareholders voting in favor of the deal. The cash for the go-private deal was largely raised through the sale of Hudson’s Bay retail and real estate holdings in Germany. HBC operates the Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Off 5th and Hudson’s Bay chains.