Hudson's Bay lender fighting retailer's Ruby Liu deal seeks appointment of 'super monitor'

The Canadian Press

· Posted: Jul 08, 2025 7:11 PM EDT | Last Updated: 12 minutes ago

One of Hudson's Bay's biggest lenders says the section store concatenation has handled its liquidation truthful severely that a tribunal should extremity a buzzy but fraught lease transaction the retailer signed with a B.C. billionaire and taxable the institution to adjacent much oversight arsenic it winds down.

A question filed Tuesday by Restore Capital LLC asks a tribunal to halt the defunct retailer from selling up to 25 of its leases to promenade proprietor Ruby Liu and name a "super monitor" to much prudently liquidate the remainder of its assets.

It argues some are indispensable due to the fact that the retailer has "frittered away" Restore's collateral "without immoderate wide way oregon program towards realizing immoderate payment for HBC's stakeholders." 

Restore, an concern manager, spent 2 decades lending wealth to the Bay. Its astir caller tranche sent the 355-year-old retailer $151 cardinal successful December 2024, 3 months earlier the Bay filed for creditor protection.

Canada's oldest institution has since liquidated each 80 of its stores and different 16 nether its sister Saks banners as sold assets, including leases and intelligence property.

WATCH | B.C. billionaire Ruby Liu shares her imaginativeness for erstwhile Hudson's Bay locations:

The institution brokered 2 lease deals with Liu successful May. The archetypal — a $6-million transaction involving 3 leases for stores astatine B.C. malls she owns — was approved by a tribunal past month.

Another woody was for up to 25 much leases successful Alberta, B.C. and Ontario. The Bay has yet to question tribunal support for the 2nd deal, which spans 25 much leases successful Alberta, B.C. and Ontario.

Landlords, including Cadillac Fairview and Oxford Properties, person overwhelmingly opposed taking connected Liu arsenic a tenant due to the fact that they accidental she has not provided them with a applicable concern program for the section stores she wants to tally connected their properties. 

Restore's question seizes connected their dissent and positions the enactment the Bay has been doing to effort to garner their support arsenic costly and fruitless.

"HBC has incurred exorbitant rent costs and nonrecreational fees successful trying to get the indispensable landlord consents with thing to amusement for it, contempt the landlords having indicated agelong agone that nary consent volition beryllium provided," Restore's question says.

It points retired that the latest fiscal forecasts amusement betwixt June 30 and Aug. 15, the Bay volition incur $7.5 cardinal successful rent costs successful transportation with pursuing the Liu woody and a important information of the $8.5 cardinal successful nonrecreational fees projected during the seven-week play are linked to it arsenic well. 

Liu, who did not instantly respond to a petition for comment, says if a tribunal approves the sale, she believes she tin triumph landlords over.

If the institution can't adjacent connected a woody with Liu, Restore and different lenders volition spot their collateral "irretrievably eroded," the lender said successful its filings.

Hudson's Bay spokesperson Tiffany Bourré said the retailer volition respond to the question "in owed course."

WATCH | Who is Ruby Liu?:  

In the meantime, she said it "continues to negociate the monetization of its assets and the wind-up of its affairs successful a liable and diligent manner, appropriately balancing the interests of assorted stakeholders."

Yet Restore said it's seen its chances of recovering currency stymied due to the fact that it said the Bay mismanaged its liquidation by failing to disclaim leases that nary 1 wanted to bargain successful a timely fashion, adjacent stores decently and region fixtures and equipment.

These moves and a determination to "unnecessarily" wage for the removal of exterior signage person led to an further $18 cardinal successful expenditures that would different signifier the ground of its recovery, Restore said.

It argues these expenses and the Bay's wide actions person made it truthful lenders are "perversely being compelled to money increases successful their ain projected shortfall."

Restore fears the lone different accidental astatine recovering wealth it is owed volition beryllium turning to the company's pension plan, which has a surplus but mightiness instrumentality years to gully immoderate wealth from due to the fact that of imaginable conflicting views connected entitlements.

As a result, Restore wants the tribunal to grow the powers of Alvarez and Marsal, a show antecedently appointed to usher the Bay done the creditor extortion process, truthful the institution tin beryllium coiled down. 

If the tribunal doesn't hold to a "super monitor" arrangement, it suggests appointing Richter Consulting Inc. arsenic a receiver.