A special committee appointed by Canadian retailer Hudson’s Bay Company to evaluate a takeover bid from a group of stakeholders has deemed the offer “inadequate.”

The HBC board formed a special committee in June to review and evaluate the proposal from a group led by chairman Richard Baker. The bid was to privatise the company at a price of CAD9.45 per share payable in cash. 

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“Based on initial analysis completed to date by its financial advisor and other factors, the special committee has communicated to the shareholder group that the price of $9.45 per common share offered in the Shareholder Group Proposal is inadequate.”

Previously activist shareholder Jonathan Litt in June had criticised the bid as “woefully inadequate” and said the company was worth double the group’s offer.

A later offer from private equity firm Catalyst Capital Group to purchase up to 14.8m common shares of HBC for CAD10.11 each then came through.

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The special committee says it is not in a position to make a recommendation on Catalyst’s offer as its work is still ongoing. It advised shareholders to exercise caution regarding a decision to tender to the Catalyst Offer especially since it is “not a true alternative to the shareholder group proposal which, if acceptable terms are reached, will involve the acquisition by the company of 100% of the common shares held by minority shareholders” said the committee.

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“The special committee and its financial advisors anticipate meeting with representatives of various shareholders next week and look forward to hearing their perspectives on the Catalyst offer and the shareholder group proposal.”