TORONTO – Cadillac Fairview has come out against Hudson’s Bay’s push to get a court to approve an agreement giving the retailer less than two weeks to save six stores it has so far spared from liquidation.
At the Ontario Superior Court, the mall owner, which is the landlord for 16 of the department stores, joined a growing group of real estate firms against the restructuring agreement Hudson’s Bay pitched Wednesday.
Cadillac Fairview lawyer David Bish says the agreement bars Hudson’s Bay from restructuring rather than supports restructuring and puts the company on a path to full liquidation rather than finding a way to survive.
The agreement Bish criticized will force Hudson’s Bay to start liquidating its six surviving stores on April 8, if it hasn’t found a likely transaction to give it a way forward by April 7.
If Reflect Advisors, which is advising Hudson’s Bay, believes a separate sales process the retailer is running is likely to garner a buyer for any of the six stores that will provide incremental proceeds greater than the cost of omitting the stores from the liquidation, the agreement allows for an extension beyond the April 7 deadline.
Fellow commercial real estate companies RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust and Oxford Properties have echoed Bish’s arguments, but Hudson’s Bay lenders Pathlight Capital and Restore Capital support the agreement and point out the landlords had a chance to help Hudson’s Bay find a way forward.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2025.
