Markets this morning are mixed with New York up slightly and Toronto down slight.
It sounds like Hudson’s Bay Company made another good deal yesterday buying the a big German retailer and then doing a partial sale of the real estate by putting the real estate into a joint venture. I have unfortunately not analyzed Hudson’s Bay but I have been very impressed with them over the past few years. Selling those Zeller’s leases to Target for $1.8 billion was brilliant and there were some other real estate sales as well. They sold the flagship Hudson’s Bay store in Toronto in a sale and leaseback deal for $650 million. The Baker family of the United States bought Hudson’s Bay for less than the value of the real estate some years ago and then bough Saks 5th Avenue also apparently for less than the value of the real estate.