Canadian Tire bidding on Hudson's Bay's intellectual property, may include iconic stripes and logos

Toronto Star

02-05-2025

Canadian Tire Corp. has expressed interest in purchasing Hudson's Bay's intellectual property, which may include its iconic stripes and logos, according to a source close to the beleaguered retailer's restructuring plans.
The source told the Star that Canadian Tire, the stalwart retailer of automotive and home products, has submitted a bid in a sales process that is putting Hudson's Bay's leases, real estate and IP up for grabs. The deadline for bid submission was Wednesday.
The once-venerated Hudson's Bay filed for creditor protection in early March and has since been granted permission to liquidate half-a-billion dollars worth of inventory in more than 80 stores across the country.
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The Star first reported on Wednesday that Weihong Liu, a British Columbia-based billionaire mall owner, has placed a bid on 25 Hudson's Bay stores after publicly disclosing her intent on Chinese social media Rednote.
Multiple parties are participating in the bidding process and are primarily interested in the IP. Canadian Tire 'seemed quite excited' about it, according to the source, who the Star is not naming because they are not authorized to speak about the bidding process.
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Billionaire mall owner Weihong Liu says she's bid on 25 Hudson's Bay stores
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Hudson's Bay's trademarks 'could make for a nice sort of private label addition to Canadian Tire control brand edition,' said retail analyst Bruce Winder, adding that if Canadian Tire wins the bid, they could put it on any product they want and choose the manufacturer to produce it.
Canadian Tire has a history of creating private labels — brands exclusively distributed by the company — including purchasing the rights to Raleigh bicycles and Noma known for its Christmas lights.
Winder added that Canadian Tire could open up 'a little shop within the shop' to sell Hudson's Bay products or embed the brand name into different categories within the store.
It's unclear whether Canadian Tire is bidding for the retailer's stores as well.
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Hudson's Bay declined to comment, and Canadian Tire did not respond to the Star's request for comment by the time of publication.
'We have received multiple bids and are evaluating them,' Adam Zalev, managing director at Bay financial adviser Reflect Advisors, told the Star on Thursday.
If a buyer is solely interested in Hudson's Bay leases, the bid is due Thursday.
When asked Wednesday morning whether she had submitted a bid, Liu, an immigrant from China, said 'money has already been paid.' She also said she will hold a press conference in 10 days.
According to the court order allowing the sales of Hudson's Bay assets, a 'final qualified bid' must include a refundable deposit of no less than 10 per cent of the purchase price, as well as written proof that financing has been committed for the purchase.
Each bid must also include a proposal for how many Hudson's Bay employees the bidder hopes to retain.
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'We need to hire workers, recruit people and attract investment, so the time is tight to get the work done,' Liu told the Star in Mandarin over the phone. '(The landlords) will hand over the keys in June and charge me rent.'
She said in a video on Rednote previously that she wanted to acquire Hudson's Bay to 'revive the retail industry' in Canada.
Winder said Canadian Tire could compete head-on with Liu if the West Coast billionaire wanted to run the 25 stores under the Hudson's Bay name.
Which bid is chosen depends on its dollar value, Winder added.
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'A kick in the head': Hudson's Bay shoppers hunt for liquidation deals and reflect on what the chain's downfall means to them
Consumers pounced at locations of Canada's beleaguered oldest company on Monday morning.
'It's all about money now, just paying down creditors' who are owed more than $1 billion.
A Toronto-based investment firm Urbana Corp. has also made an offer for Hudson's Bay assets, but the company's bid is for intellectual property, not store locations.
Since the news of the financial woes facing Hudson's Bay broke, Canadians have flooded stores, scrambling to snatch up anything bearing the Hudson's Bay logo, mourning the loss of the Canadian company with a 355-year-old legacy.
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Despite the better-than-expected sales in the liquidation process, the company decided it was 'unlikely' to find a restructuring solution to save its business and put six stores that it was hoping to keep operational into liquidation last Friday.
Hudson's Bay is clinging to the hope that a successful bid will come through the sales process, and reserves the right to withdraw some stores from liquidation sales.
If the retailer receives multiple offers for its stores and intellectual properties, it could hold an auction around May 16. Hudson's Bay is required to return to court by May 30 for approval of the sales of its assets.