In the 1980s, Campeau embarked on a series of
leveraged buyouts, first bidding unsuccessfully on the
Royal Trustco (now owned by
Royal Bank of Canada). Its founder's brash, confrontational manner made him an outsider to much of the conservative Canadian business establishment. As his empire expanded, Campeau ventured into the United States, looking for acquisitions that would add
shopping mall real estate to his portfolio of assets. In 1986, Campeau acquired
Allied Stores. In 1988, the company followed with the purchase of
Federated Department Stores, owner of
Bloomingdale's. Campeau retained banker
Bruce Wasserstein to assist with the transactions. The purchases were criticized by
The New York Times, which noted "recent LBO's benefited the target companies' shareholders who received high takeover prices. But most of the gains seemed to have come at the expense of bondholders, creditors and employees." In the late 1980s, the debt obligations that needed to be covered following the merger were too large, and exacerbated by a market downturn that hurt retail sales. Campeau Corporation was unable to meet its debt obligations. Federated and Allied eventually filed for bankruptcy reorganization. The company was eventually acquired by
Olympia and York who went bankrupt, and Campeau Corporation ceased to exist. ==See also==