HBC board nixes Catalyst bid

TORONTO ― Hudson’s Bay Co.’s board of directors has rejected Catalyst Capital Group’s $2 billion takeover proposal, which it says has no prospect of swaying the majority stake controlled by Chairman Richard Baker. Catalyst offered $11 per share to compete with the Baker-controlled group’s $10.30-per-share bid to take the company private. The majority, however, has said it has no intention of selling. Catalyst is not out of options yet, though: it is still pursuing an application to the Ontario Securities Commission for a hearing into what it calls “numerous omissions and misrepresentations” in the information circular on the Baker group’s bid.