Hudson's Bay Co. T.HBC

July 20th comment from Scotiabank website

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TORONTO, July 20 (Reuters) - Retailer Hudson's Bay Co is unlikely to take its vast real estate holdings public any time soon, the head of RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust, a partner in a venture that holds some of those assets, said on Thursday. North America's oldest company, HBC is under pressure from activist investor Jonathan Litt, who disclosed a 4.3 percent stake in the company in June, to get cash from its real estate assets or take action to boost income from them. Initial public offerings of two joint ventures with billions of dollars in U.S., European, and Canadian real estate are "unlikely at this point" because market conditions are poor, RioCan founder and Chief Executive Edward Sonshine said in an interview in his Toronto office. The retailer formed those ventures in February 2015, one with RioCan, among North America's largest retail REITs, and another with U.S.-based Simon Property Group Inc. It said at the time the combined value was C$3.8 billion ($3 billion). The Simon joint venture, HBS Global Properties, has since added investors and European properties. Hudson's Bay spokesman Andrew Blecher declined to comment.