Karstadt owner Signa makes offer for Hudson's Bay's Kaufhof
Signa
(Reuters) - Saks Fifth Avenue owner Hudsonâs Bay Co (HBC.TO) said on Wednesday it had received a bid for its German department store chain Kaufhof from  Signa  Holding  the Austrian property and retail group that owns Karstadt  another German retail chain.
The announcement came after Reuters reported earlier on Wednesday  citing sources  that  Signa  had made a 3 billion euro ($3.5 billion) offer for Kaufhof. Hudsonâs Bay did not comment on the bidâs value  and  Signa  declined to comment.
 Signaâs offer  comes one week after Hudsonâs Bay agreed to sell its flagship Lord & Taylor building in New York for $850 million to WeWork Cos.
The Reuters sources said that  Signa  expects Toronto-based Hudsonâs Bay  which has been reluctant so far to engage in negotiations to sell Kaufhof  to respond to  the offer  by the middle of November.
Hudsonâs Bay called  the offer  incomplete  non-binding and unsolicited  with no evidence of financing.
The sources said that in its offer letter to Hudsonâs Bay   Signa  stated  its  bid for Kaufhof would not be contingent on any third-party financing  since  it  already has 700 million euros in approved financing from European banks  and also has cash available from a 1 billion euro equity raise last month.
 Signa  has also offered to assume all of Kaufhofâs liabilities  including a 1.34 billion euro real estate loan by German bank LBBW  the sources added.
Hudsonâs Bay said it plans to review  the offer  in due course. It added that its European business is an important element of the companyâs strategy  and that it remains focused on executing its strategy and plans for the upcoming holiday season.
At a valuation of 3 billion euros including debt  Signaâs bid values Kaufhofâs real estate at 2.63 billion euros  the sources said.
Signa tried to buy Kaufhof in 2015  but Hudsonâs Bay outbid it by paying 2.5 billion euros including debt for the German chain and its Belgian subsidiary. Since then  Kaufhofâs finances have deteriorated  to the point where vendors are finding it more difficult to find trade credit insurance to make shipments.
âHudsonâs Bay board of directors should  consistent with its fiduciary duties  seriously consider the reported  Signa  fully financed 3.0 billion euro offer for Hudsonâs Bay European business  which is above the Companyâs purchase price and stated net asset value â Lands and Buildings CEO Jonathan Litt said in a statement.
 Privately held Signa   founded 17 years ago by property developer Rene Benko  now runs more than 125 retail locations in Northern Europe  generating annual revenue of about 3.8 billion euros  according to  its  website.  It  owns a big real estate portfolio with a gross asset value of more than 10 billion euros.
 Signa  bought Karstadt from the brink of bankruptcy in 2014 for the nominal consideration of just one euro from  its  majority owner Nicolas Berggruen  son of an international art dealer.
 Signa  restored Karstadt to profitability: realigning  its  offerings closer to the tastes of German consumers  cutting costs and making operations more efficient. Karstadt and Kaufhof are now the two largest department store operators in Germany.
Last month   Signa  said  it  had completed an equity raise of 1 billion euros  giving  it  more firepower to pursue acquisitions.
(Reuters) - Saks Fifth Avenue owner Hudsonâs Bay Co (HBC.TO) said on Wednesday it had received a bid for its German department store chain Kaufhof from  Signa  Holding  the Austrian property and retail group that owns Karstadt  another German retail chain.
The announcement came after Reuters reported earlier on Wednesday  citing sources  that   [TGT] had made a 3 billion euro ($3.5 billion) offer for Kaufhof. Hudsonâs Bay did not comment on the bidâs value  and   [TGT]   declined to comment.
  [TGT] comes one week after Hudsonâs Bay agreed to sell its flagship Lord & Taylor building in New York for $850 million to WeWork Cos.
The Reuters sources said that   [TGT] expects Toronto-based Hudsonâs Bay  which has been reluctant so far to engage in negotiations to sell Kaufhof  to respond to  the offer  by the middle of November.
Hudsonâs Bay called   [TGT] incomplete  non-binding and unsolicited  with no evidence of financing.
The sources said that in its offer letter to Hudsonâs Bay   Signa  stated  its  bid for Kaufhof would not be contingent on any third-party financing  since  it  already has 700 million euros in approved financing from European banks  and also has cash available from a 1 billion euro equity raise last month.
  [TGT] has also offered to assume all of Kaufhofâs liabilities  including a 1.34 billion euro real estate loan by German bank LBBW  the sources added.
Hudsonâs Bay said it plans to review   [TGT] in due course. It added that its European business is an important element of the companyâs strategy  and that it remains focused on executing its strategy and plans for the upcoming holiday season.
At a valuation of 3 billion euros including debt  Signaâs bid values Kaufhofâs real estate at 2.63 billion euros  the sources said.
 [TGT]  tried to buy Kaufhof in 2015  but Hudsonâs Bay outbid  [TGT]  by paying 2.5 billion euros including debt for the German chain and  [TGT]  Belgian subsidiary. Since then  Kaufhofâs finances have deteriorated  to the point where vendors are finding it more difficult to find trade credit insurance to make shipments.
âHudsonâs Bay board of directors should  consistent with its fiduciary duties  seriously consider  [TGT] fully financed 3.0 billion euro offer for Hudsonâs Bay European business  which is above the Companyâs purchase price and stated net asset value â Lands and Buildings CEO Jonathan Litt said in a statement.
 Privately held  [TGT]    founded 17 years ago by property developer Rene Benko  now runs more than 125 retail locations in Northern Europe  generating annual revenue of about 3.8 billion euros  according to  its  website.  It  owns a big real estate portfolio with a gross asset value of more than 10 billion euros.
  [TGT] bought Karstadt from the brink of bankruptcy in 2014 for the nominal consideration of just one euro from   [TGT]   majority owner Nicolas Berggruen  son of an international art dealer.
  [TGT] restored Karstadt to profitability: realigning   [TGT]   offerings closer to the tastes of German consumers  cutting costs and making operations more efficient. Karstadt and Kaufhof are now the two largest department store operators in Germany.
Last month    [TGT] said   [TGT]   had completed an equity raise of 1 billion euros  giving   [TGT]   more firepower to pursue acquisitions.