(B)(N) HBC Hudson’s Bay Company

Drama. The Hudson’s Bay Company started trading on Tuesday under the ticker symbol HBC but we don’t have a clue what is being bought and sold other than the owners’  well-dressed musings that the company has a “market value” of $2 billion and is offering about 15 million treasury shares at $17 to raise about $255 million in cash (before expenses). There is no Prospectus to be found or had. It must be a trade secret of the underwriters of whom one, RBC Capital Markets, has been buying and selling the stock fiercely all day – possibly to itself – and possibly in order to keep the stock price up, currently at $16.85 (Reuters, November 22, 2012, RBC bought big on Hudson’s Bay’s first trading day). What can we say?

For more information on IPOs in general, please see our recent Post, Initial Purchase Offers (IPOs), November 2012.

Exhibit 1: (B)(N) HBC Hudson’s Bay Company – Risk Chart (Under Construction)

Canada’s oldest company, Hudson’s Bay Company, says its return to the public stock market values the retail company at $17 a share or about $2 billion in total.

(Please Click on the Chart to make it larger if required.)

HBC says it plans to sell a total 21 million shares — about one-fifth of the company’s stock — raising about $365 million through an initial public offering. The owner of the Bay, Home Outfitters and U.S. retailer Lord and Taylor says the IPO will primarily consist of a treasury offering of 14.7 million common shares, grossing about $250 million before expenses. Proceeds from that portion of the IPO will go to HBC which will use the funds to reduce its debt.

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