Iconic retailer gets Ontario court approval to sell parts of business to three firms

An Ontario court is giving Toys “R” Us Canada permission to split up and sell the business to three buyers, including its current owner who wants to keep running the chain or rebrand it.

Judge Jane Dietrich says she will sign paperwork today approving the trio of deals that will help the beleaguered retailer pay off some of the millions in debt it accumulated in the run up to filing for creditor protection in February.

The first will sell the rights to the Toys “R” Us Canada and Babies “R” Us Canada names as well as the company’s trademarks to toy brand manager Ad Populum.

The second will transfer 10 store leases, the brand’s inventory, equipment and bank accounts to a numbered company run by current Toys “R” Us Canada owner Doug Putman.

The final deal will sell the lease for a Toys “R” Us store at Vaughan Mills, a mall just north of Toronto, to Fox Group Jumbo Canada, a foreign retailer moving into the country.

The company did not disclose the value of any of the transactions but Toys “R” Us Canada owes at least $120 million to its vendors and “substantial” amounts to landlords.

By Tara Deschamps