A consortium including Hudson's Bay Company CEO Richard Baker's investment firm NRDC Corp is set to take over German department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. Galeria, Germany's most prominent retailer, earlier this year filed for insolvency following the collapse of its parent Signa, the Austria-based property empire that has become the biggest casualty so far in Europe's real-estate crisis. Baker's Hudson's Bay Company had owned Galeria Kaufhof for several years before a sale to Signa and the chain's merger with Karstadt.
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Resources Per Country
- Anguilla
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- Bermuda
- British Virgin Islands
- Canada
- Cayman Islands
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- El Salvador
- Grenada
- Guadeloupe
- Guatemala
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Jamaica
- Mexico
- Montserrat
- Netherlands Antilles
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Puerto Rico
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- United States
- United States Virgin Islands
Some Canadians are feeling a little more optimistic about their debt with the prospect of interest rate cuts on the horizon, said MNP Ltd, the Toronto Star reported. The insolvency firm’s Consumer Debt Index metric showed a significant rebound in the first quarter of 2024 after 12 months of low scores, according to its latest report. More than a quarter of Canadians say that they perceive their current debt situation as better than a year ago. Fewer Canadian households than last quarter, at 41 per cent, say they are concerned about their current level of debt.
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The investment firm of U.S. businessman Richard Baker (NRDC) is among the two remaining bidders for Germany's most prominent department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, business outlet WirtschaftsWoche reported on Friday, according to Reuters. Galeria, which recently filed for insolvency, is seeking a new owner after the collapse of its parent Signa, the Austrian-based property empire that has become the biggest casualty so far in Europe's real estate crisis.
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Canada’s labor market unexpectedly lost jobs and the unemployment rate jumped to the highest level in more than two years, signaling greater slack in the economy that will test the central bank’s patient stance on rate cuts, Bloomberg News reported. The country shed 2,200 jobs in March and the unemployment rate rose 0.3 percentage points to 6.1%, Statistics Canada reported Friday in Ottawa. The figures missed expectations for a gain of 25,000 positions and a jobless rate of 5.9%, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
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The severe drought which has forced the Panama Canal, one of the world's busiest trade passages, to limit daily crossings could impact global supply chains during a period of high demand, S&P Global said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The canal has imposed several restrictions since 2023, though last month the Panama Canal Authority bumped up daily crossings to 27, from 24, as water levels rose at the man-made Gatun Lake which feeds into the canal.
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Fitch Ratings stripped Panama of its investment-grade credit rating as the closure of a key copper mine last year added to the country’s fiscal worries and risks undermining growth prospects, Bloomberg News reported. The Central American nation’s credit score was cut to BB+ from BBB- on Thursday, with a stable outlook. That’s in line with Vietnam, Colombia and Serbia. A downgrade by Moody’s Ratings is expected for the second half of the year, according to Morgan Stanley strategist Emma Cerda.
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WOM, once a rising Chilean startup that vowed to challenge the country’s dominant telecom operators, filed for bankruptcy after falling short on a plan to refinance $348 million in debt due in November, Bloomberg News reported. The company filed for chapter 11 protection in Delaware, according to court documents filed today. The filing, which lists between $1 billion and $10 billion in liabilities and same in assets, allows WOM to keep operating while it works on a plan to repay creditors.
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Cerberus Capital Management LP and Intrum AB are considering a more extensive partnership as the Swedish debt collector explores options to address its borrowings, Bloomberg News reported. The U.S. alternative investor is looking at further ways to invest in Intrum and its assets after buying a portfolio from the company earlier this year, said people familiar with the matter. Talks are preliminary and might not yield any outcome, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the details are private.
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Pride Group Holdings has sought creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), after lender Mitsubishi HC Capital America filed a claim this week seeking damages of approximately US$100 million, trucknews.com reported. Three lawsuits on behalf of the Mitsubishi HC Capital named Sulakhan ‘Sam’ Johal and Jasvir Johal, accuse them of taking out credit lines to build inventories for Pride Truck Sales and Tpine Leasing. It accused them of defaulting on payments they had personally guaranteed. The claims have not been proven in court.
Steelworker union Local 1005 says the recent court filings by U.S. Steel is “bankruptcy fraud” and a path to abandoning Hamilton altogether — not only ditching the liability of its pensioners, but the cleanup costs of leaving the city, too, the CBC reported. Union head Rolf Gerstenberger made the statement at Local 1005’s headquarters at Barton and Kenilworth, questioning the company’s motives, repeatedly recalling a $58-million settlement U.S. Steel was has agreed to pay for price-fixing case in July for actions dating back a decade, and calling the process of bankruptcy protection theft.