February 26, 2015
Willkie represents HBC in agreement to form a real estate-focused joint venture.
On February 25, Willkie client Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), owner of Saks Fifth Avenue and other leading department stores, and Simon Property Group Inc., a major retail real estate owner, announced they have agreed to form a joint venture focused on credit tenant, net-leased and multi-tenanted retail buildings in the United States and internationally.
The joint venture, valued at $1.8 billion, will build on the strength of HBC’s existing real estate assets as well as identify new real estate growth opportunities in the above-mentioned sectors, including department stores. The transaction is structured to facilitate an IPO or other monetization of the joint venture at a future date.
Hudson's Bay Company, founded in 1670, is North America's longest continually operated company. HBC operates primarily in the United States and Canada under banners that include Hudson's Bay (Canada's most prominent department store), Lord & Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH.
Willkie’s multidisciplinary deal team was led by partners Gordon Caplan, Russell Leaf and Gregory Astrachan, and included partners Thomas Henry, Henry Cohn and Hillel Jacobson and associates Michael Brandt, Michael Jackowitz, Kathleen O’Donnell, Tyler Warner, Timothy DeKeyser, Jennifer Coffey, Jacob Moss, Natalie Whitaker and Annise Maguire.
In November 2014, Willkie represented HBC in a $1.25 billion CMBS financing deal secured by HBC’s flagship Saks Fifth Avenue store property in New York. The firm also represented HBC in its acquisition of Saks International for $2.9 billion in 2013.
