Hudson's Bay Buys Saks for $2.4b Cash

(Image source: The New York Times) BY JOHN O'CONNOR Hudson's Bay, the Canadian parent company of Lord and Taylor, says it's buying luxury retailer Saks in a $2.4 billion cash deal. (Via CNBC)  "That deal will be for $16 a share, and provides for a 40-day 'go-shop' period in which Saks can go seek out other potential buyers." According to The New York Times' Dealbook, Hudson's Bay — the oldest company in North America — plans to finance the all-cash deal by ...   " ... issuing about $1 billion of new stock and $400 million of new bonds, borrowing about $1.8 billion of new loans as well as using available cash on hand." NBC News explains following the merger the combined company "will operate 320 stores" including "179 full-line department stores" "72 outlet stores" and "69 home stores" in prime retail locations throughout the U.S. and Canada.   An analyst for MSNBC says the merger seems to be more of a back-office deal, but explains there could be some benefits for shoppers if Hudson's Bay decides to combine the Lord and Taylor and Saks brands. "There might be some impact for those going shopping because the bigger stores, Macy's for example, have more bargaining power with their suppliers and perhaps can push down prices some because they've got greater economies of scale." But an analyst for Bloomberg argues the brands are too different to combine, and that Hudson's Bay would be best-off leaving them independent of one another. "When we are talking about synergies here, we are talking most likely about back-office synergies we're talking about. We aren't necessarily talking about combining the stores or combining the cultures." Sak's stock jumped up nearly 5 percent Monday after the deal was announced.