Saks Fifth Avenue is poised to open in Toronto as the company takes over the former Hudson Bay Company flagship store at Queen Street and Yonge Street in downtown Toronto.
Rick Madonik | Toronto Star | Getty Images
Saks Fifth Avenue owner Hudson’s Bay has fallen short in securing enough shareholder support for a $1.4 billion deal to take the department store operator private, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
A buyout consortium of Hudson’s Bay investors led by its executive chairman Richard Baker did not win enough votes from other company shareholders by a Friday morning deadline for the deal to go through, the sources said. The sources cautioned that shareholders are allowed to change their minds through Dec. 17, when a special meeting of shareholders is planned.
The buyout consortium has 57% voting control over the company, but was not allowed to participate in the vote under the terms of the agreement with a special board committee that negotiated the deal on behalf of Hudson’s Bay.
The consortium’s next steps were not immediately clear.
The sources asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential. Spokespeople for Hudson’s Bay and Baker’s consortium did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
