"BUY, BUY," HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY !

canada's oldest company, the hudson's bay compny - founded in 1670 - has been sold to u.s. investor gerry zucker.
HBC, as it is known in canada, is canada's largest retailer with 550 stores from coast-to-coast and from the arctic to the u.s. border and employs 70,000 "associates" (i guess the name employee is no longer used !).

the company has fallen on hard times and has not been doing well at all in the retail business - perhaps not enough hudson's bay blankets being bought anymore and lower demand for bearskin-hats ?
mr. zucker has been courting the HBC for some time and has promised to keep the company largely intact. he has been able to re-surrect a number of ailing businesses in the u.s. and is considered a good businessman who is likely not going to sell the company off peacemeal, but built on its strenght. good luck to mr. zucker and the venerable HBC ! hbg.
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By TAVIA GRANT

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Globe and Mail Update

The board of Hudson's Bay Co., Canada's oldest company, unanimously agreed Thursday to a sweetened $15.25-a-share offer from U.S. billionaire Jerry Zucker's investment firm.

Mr. Zucker's Maple Leaf Heritage Investments Acquisition Corp. will pay 50 cents more per share than its previous offer.

Hudson's Bay shares jumped $1.12 or 8 per cent to $15.05 in Toronto with more than 1.9 million shares changing shares in the first five minutes of trading.

The move comes after several other parties expressed interest in buying the 336-year-old retailer, among them U.S. equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP and buyout powerhouse Onex Corp. with mall developer Mitchell Goldhar, the Globe and Mail reported.

“The board has conducted a thorough process to maximize value for the shareholders of HBC, and after considering several offers for the company, has unanimously endorsed and is recommending that shareholders tender to the amended offer,” Yves Fortier, Hudson's Bay's governor, said in a statement.

“We are satisfied that the amended offer constitutes full and fair value for the company.”

Hudson's Bay, established in 1670, is Canada's largest department store retailer. It has 550 stores as part of the Bay, Zellers and Home Outfitters chains. The company employs almost 70,000 associates and operates in every province in Canada.

The conditions on the offer, which expires Feb. 24., have been significantly reduced. The amended offer is conditional on a minimum of 66 2/3 per cent of the shares of HBC being tendered, tender of a majority of HBC's unsecured subordinated debentures under the offer and the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals.

“On behalf of the management of HBC, we are pleased with the outcome of the auction process and fully support Mr. Zucker's enhanced offer,” said George Heller, HBC's president and chief executive.

Mr. Zucker has also offered to buy all of the outstanding 7.5 per cent convertible unsecured subordinated debentures due in 2008 at $1,010 for each $1,000 principal amount of debentures, the company said.

“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with HBC today and to be associated with a company with such a long and proud history,” Mr. Zucker said in a statement.

“Through the implementation of more efficient methods we will positively differentiate HBC from its competitors.”

Maple Leaf will mail the amended offer by Feb. 10.

Apart from his pursuit of Hudson's Bay, Mr. Zucker isn't widely known in Canada. Few of the secretive billionaire's investments are household names or marquee properties.

His Charleston, S.C.-based holding company InterTech Group Inc. owns mainly obscure chemical and engineered product makers. Mr. Zucker also owns electronics companies, hockey rinks, laser tag centres, banking machine suppliers, two Charleston restaurants and commercial real estate. At various times, he's also owned banks and textile makers, including Montreal-based Dominion Textile Inc.

His ragtag collection of businesses generated an impressive $3-billion (U.S.) in revenue last year, making InterTech one of the largest private companies in the United States, according to Forbes Magazine. The magazine also ranked Mr. Zucker as the 346th wealthiest American in 2004, with an estimated fortune of more than $1-billion.

He grew up in Florida and South Carolina, where his parents settled, and went to the University of Florida, where he earned undergraduate degrees in math and science, plus a masters in electrical engineering.

Mr. Zucker's first notable business deal was in 1982, when he was still in his early thirties. He and a colleague bought a division of the textile manufacturer where they worked, RM Engineered Products. He used the investment as a springboard for a series of increasingly larger manufacturing acquisitions in the 1980s, including several divisions of then-shrinking chemicals giant E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.