North America

Sears Canada’s liquidation sales, which began last week, have disappointed early bargain seekers, but steeper discounts expected further into Canada’s holiday shopping season are likely to squeeze rivals, analysts say. Sears Canada, which was spun off from Sears Holdings Corp. in 2012, is preparing to shut its doors in early 2018 after years of falling sales and sliding market share, Reuters reported. It won court approval this month to liquidate its assets after failing to secure a rescue deal.

Concordia International Corp., stumbling under debt that the Canadian drugmaker piled on during a takeover spree, is seeking to restructure its finances and cut borrowings by at least $2 billion after missing an interest payment Monday on some unsecured bonds, Bloomberg News reported. Management is pursuing a plan under the Canada Business Corporations Act, according to a statement Friday, which didn’t outline any potential terms of a deal but said the company would continue making payments on its secured debt.

Sears Canada recently announced that it's closing all stores and eliminating thousands of jobs in Mississauga and beyond. This might be sad news for employees and anyone who feels some nostalgia thinking about Sears catalogues, but it also means that sales are coming. Prior to the court ruling, Sears said it would proceed with liquidation sales at retail locations on October 19 and continue for 10 to 14 weeks, Insauga reported.

Cuba paid the second installment on a renegotiated $2.6 billion in debt to 14 wealthy creditor nations this week, diplomats from a number of the countries said, as some creditors prepare to swap debt for an equity stake in local development projects, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the payment showed the importance Cuba attaches to an agreement it reached in 2015 with the Paris Club group of major creditor nations.

Sears Canada on Friday won court approval to begin liquidating all its remaining assets starting Oct. 19, putting the retail chain with 12,000 employees on a path to closure after 65 years in the country. The approval was granted by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, which also extended creditor protection for Sears Canada to Jan. 22, Reuters reported. The public liquidation sales are set to end on Jan. 21.

Sears Canada moved a step nearer to permanent closure after several attempts to find a buyer failed, with the retailer saying it will seek court approval on Friday to shutter its remaining 130 stores, leaving 12,000 employees without jobs, Reuters reported. The retail chain is the latest victim of a widespread shift in consumer behavior demanding more convenience and up-to-date fashions that has seen nimble online operators such as Amazon.com Inc. claw market share from bricks-and-mortar retailers that have clung to their traditional business models.

Sears Canada on Wednesday won court approval to extend credit protection by a month to Nov. 7, but its creditors set a deadline of this week to liquidate the retailers’ assets, leaving the company with mere days to decide its fate, Reuters reported. While the extension of creditor protection will keep its lenders at bay a bit longer, the new liquidation deadline means a deal with Executive Chairman Brandon Stranzl that would allow it to remain in business would still need to be reached by Saturday, Oct. 7.

Has billionaire Murray Edwards stepped in to prop up a troubled Canadian copper miner once more? That’s what investors and analysts are wondering after Imperial Metals Corp. won a second reprieve on its loans until Oct. 13 while bankers review a new financial rescue plan. Edwards, the company’s largest shareholder who has been involved since 1994, has previously helped bail out Imperial Metals by injecting capital, making a loan and guaranteeing a credit line, Bloomberg News reported.

Seadrill Ltd’s $12.7 billion debt restructuring faces a critical phase as hold-out creditors prepare to challenge the plan put forward by John Fredriksen, its largest shareholder, as soon as a hearing next week, Reuters reported. The offshore drilling contractor, once the world’s largest by market capitalisation, filed for U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Texas on Sept. 12, presenting a plan backed by holders of 97 percent of its loans and 40 percent of its bonds.

Sears Canada Inc said late on Friday that it has asked a court to extend creditor protection that expires on Wednesday by another month so it can finish negotiating a deal that would keep the iconic brand running in Canada, Reuters reported. The company, which in 2012 was spun off from U.S. retailer Sears Holdings Corp, filed for creditor protection in June and laid out a restructuring plan that included cutting 2,900 jobs and closing roughly a quarter of its stores.