TORONTO — New court documents show Hudson’s Bay has returned a $9.4 million deposit to a B.C. billionaire paid as part of her attempt to buy 25 of the retailer’s leases.

An affidavit from Franco Perugini, HBC’s senior vice-president of real estate and legal, says the deposit was returned as part of a deal Ruby Liu signed terminating her $69.1 million offer for several of the company’s leases.

Perugini says the money has since been transferred.

HBC lost its bid to sell Liu 25 of its leases in October, when a judge sided with landlords who had argued she was unfit and ill prepared to run a new department store she wanted to create in their properties.

Perugini says landlords have since notified the company that they will seek costs stemming from the failed deal.

While Liu wasn’t able to buy the 25 leases in Alberta, B.C. and Ontario, she purchased three other leases for $6 million. That deal easily got court approval because Liu owns the B.C malls the properties are located in.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2025.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press