Old Copper Co. Inc. (f/k/a CPPRQ/JCPNQ JC Penney)

[RickNagra]

Great article thanks for sharing. A must read. Certainly a lot more information 24 hours later. Not sure where Yahoo Finance got this information. A new source ? They are now saying Amazon is not interested in buying out the entire JC Penney. If true then Amazon is out. That makes me very sad and depressed and no amount of antidepressants is going to help. Ugh.

Amazon is not in it,” said one real estate source close to one of the bidders. But the supplier said Amazon is interested in certain Penney’s warehouses and retail sites that could be converted to distribution centers and Amazon Go stores, but stressed Amazon is not interested in buying the company in its entirety.

Hudson's Bay Company seems interested though :

The latest player to enter the bidding is Hudson’s Bay Co., which operates Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Off 5th and Hudson’s Bay in Canada. The company has been in the business of buying and selling department stores, but is really attracted to them because of the hidden value in the retail real estate. Eighty percent of the value of HBC is in real estate, and only 20 percent in retail. HBC has bought and sold Lord & Taylor, Zellers in Canada and Galeria Kaufhof in Germany.

But here is the part I do not understand. JC Penney real estate is valued at $3.7B yet everyone is offering $1.7B per the article. How does that work ? Are the two writers getting it wrong ? I thought $1.7B was for the equity only.

Real estate that Penney’s will retain is said to have been appraised at $3.7 billion. That’s more than twice the amount bidders appear to be willing to pay for the retailer. According to the New York Post, Sycamore, which owns Belk, Talbots and The Limited, offered $1.75 billion for Penney’s, and is the front-runner in the auction. HBC offered $1.7 billion. However, the real estate source close to one of the bidders suggested Penney’s is still up for grabs, and that Sycamore is not necessarily the front-runner in the bidding war. “This is still in progress,” the source said.