HBAYF - Hudson's Bay Continues to Undo Its Ill-Fated Global Expansion
In the decade after he bought Hudson's Bay (OTC: HBAYF) in 2008, company chairman Richard Baker spearheaded a global expansion for the Canadian department store chain. Unfortunately, this growth produced decidedly mixed results. Hudson's Bay acquired a number of desirable assets, but it also ran up a big debt load and has been unable to turn a profit in recent years.
Ultimately, Baker was forced to bring in a new CEO -- Helena Foulkes -- to clean up the mess he and his team had created. Since mid-2018, Foulkes has sold or closed underperforming businesses at a rapid pace. Last week, Hudson's Bay put the finishing touches on this project, finalizing its plan to exit Europe.
For the most part, Baker's expansion plan at Hudson's Bay involved buying department store chains that owned extensive troves of valuable real estate, such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Galeria Kaufhof. However, the company also ventured into more dubious projects like purchasing the Gilt flash-sale site in early 2016 and opening more than a dozen Hudson's Bay stores in the Netherlands beginning in late 2017.