The staff of Fortune recently assembled its predictions for 2016. Here’s one of our forecasts.
After snapping up retailers like Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue in recent years, Hudson’s Bay Company bagged German department store Kaufhof this year for $3.3 billion. And HBC has made no secret of the fact that it is on the hunt for more big-name stores. The company’s M.O. is to target underperforming department stores that also have very attractive real estate. Sound familiar? That could very well describe Macy’s (M), whose sales growth has evaporated this year but whose real estate could be worth billions — some reports suggest that Macy’s Manhattan flagship alone is worth $5 billion. Macy’s, which also owns Bloomingdale’s, would be a big bite: its market cap is about $12.5 billion. Nonetheless, HBC has proven adept at spinning off real estate of prior acquisitions to rake in billions to make its next big deal. And what more alluring trophy in the department store world is there than Macy’s?
This article is part of the 2016 Fortune Crystal Ball, a package of 33 predictions about business, politics and the economy by the writers and editors of Fortune. To see the entire package, click here.
