Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Oh great, you might be able to buy HBC shares again!...

Canada's oldest company, and one of the oldest corporations in the world, the Hudson's Bay Company, was sold to an American wheeler-dealer in 2006.

That sharpie flipped it to a hedge fund a couple of years later.

The hedge fund sold off the Zellers store leases to Target a couple of years later, recouping their investment in its entirety.

What they've got left will be their gravy.

And now they want to float an IPO for the remaining entrails.

The main value point in what's left of HBC is the Bay chain of stores. Looks to me like the hedgies are trying to get out before Nordstrom comes into Canada and cuts their grass.

Avoid this IPO like it's the plague.

Remember when the Eaton chain came back from the dead?

A lot of sentimental Canadians went for that. How could they go wrong? Hell, I remember buying a nice suit at Eaton's. They even had real tailors in the stores to do the custom fitting.

The Eaton clan profited handsomely from that resurrection, and within a year the brand was dead.

Leaving the Eaton clan mourning at their various estates north of Toronto, counting the money from that final share flotation.

This HBC IPO is deja vu all over again.

Short this puppy before it climbs out of the crib.

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