Trio of Leading Retail Names Now Under One Roof with Closing of Hudson’s Bay Deal

NRDC Equity Partners has wrapped up its acquisition of Hudson’s Bay Co., which is, at 338 years old, the oldest continuing operating company in North America, as well as the largest department store chain in Canada. With the completion of NRDC’s purchase of Hudson’s Bay from True North Retail Investments, NRDC created a new holding company that combined its Lord & Taylor, Fortunoff and designer and manufacturing entity Creative Design Studios under one umbrella with Hudson’s Bay. NRDC and Hudson’s Bay–which owns The Bay, Zellers Home Outfitters and Fields chains–have history; the private equity firm previously held a minority stake in the retail concern as part of a partnership. With the deal done NRDC’s new holding company, Hudson’s Bay Trading Co., can now boast a portfolio of 55 million square feet of retail stores across the United States and Canada, as well as $8 billion in sales–and plans for growth in Canada are already in the works. Approximately 10 to 15 of the upscale Lord & Taylor department stores are on tap to open in Canada and Fortunoff Jewelry Stores and Fortunoff Home Departments stores will open as free-standing retail shops, and will also have space in The Bay department stores. Additionally, the Zellers chain will debut new 125,000 square feet prototype stores. NRDC is financing its new holding company with an equity infusion of $500 million. NRDC relied on the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison for its legal counsel in the States, and turned to Stikeman Elliott L.L.P. for counsel in Canada. New York’s NRDC is acquires operating companies in the retail, leisure, lodging and commercial real estate sectors. The private equity firm typically invests from $50 million to $750 million of equity in purchases that ultimately require an aggregate investment of $100 million to $5 billion.Blog Comments