Hey folks -
Long time lurker, first time poster; huge Canadian retail buff.
I've found the documentation that Laura's restructuring team forwarded to the courts. Really interesting stuff. Seems like they suffered through a few seasons of poor merch that didn't resonate with their customer base; realized it and were working to turn the boat around.
Their key lender (Salus) is American based and has been incurring substantial losses and is actually in the process of liquidating their loan portfolio. To the point where they were in the process of lining up liquidators to dispose of Laura's assets before Cadillac Fairview and other lenders stepped up to see what could be done to stabilize the business.
Laura's contesting this in the courts, and with Cadillac Fairview's support is working to restructure.
Cadillac Fairview's $10 million is subject to a court issuance for an 'interim financing charge.' If all terms are approved then CF will basically advance them a life-line; ensuring payment of fall merchandise that's already been designed / produced / is on the water from Asia.
CF has long associated with Laura; I and from the looks of the court docs, I can't see them wanting to be involved with any of the locations that are going to be closing (unless there are a couple of dogs that are deemed not viable). I can see the 46 leases affected (20 store closures / 26 requests for reduced rent) hitting the likes of Rio-Can / Smart Centres / etc.
It will be really interesting to see how this plays out. They do fill a void in the market - but really for how long is anyone's guess. They've stumbled in recent years and haven't been able to differentiate themselves enough from a lot of the international competition that's arrived or is in the process of setting up shop in Canada (White House | Black Market, Lane Bryant, Chicos, etc.).
Docs below:
http://www.kpmg.com/Ca/en/services/A...tial-order.pdf