TORONTO—In a move that could have considerable implications for Canadian retail real estate, Target Corporation, Minneapolis, plans to discontinue operating stores in Canada through its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, Target Canada Co.

As a part of that process, on Thursday Target Canada filed an application for protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (the “CCAA”) with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto. Target Canada currently has 133 stores across the country. The big-box retailer often anchors or shadow-anchors small to midsized retail properties.

“When I joined Target, I promised our team and shareholders that I would take a hard look at our business and operations in an effort to improve our performance and transform our company,” said Brian Cornell, Target Corporation Chairman and CEO in a press release. “After a thorough review of our Canadian performance and careful consideration of the implications of all options, we were unable to find a realistic scenario that would get Target Canada to profitability until at least 2021. With the full support of Target Corporation's Board of Directors, we have determined that it is in the best interest of our business and our shareholders to exit the Canadian market and focus on driving growth and building further momentum in our U.S. business.”

Target Corporation is seeking the court's approval to voluntarily make cash contributions of about $59 million (C$70M) into an employee trust.

As part of its application, Target Canada is seeking the appointment of Alvarez & Marsal Canada as Monitor in the CCAA proceedings to oversee the liquidation and wind-down process for Target Canada and its subsidiaries. Subject to court approval, Target has committed to provide a $175 million debtor-in-possession credit facility to finance Target Canada's operations during the CCAA proceedings. Target Canada is also seeking Court approval to engage Lazard to advise Target Canada in connection with the sale of its real estate assets.

“The Target Canada team has worked tirelessly to improve the fundamentals, fix operations and build a deeper relationship with our guests. We hoped that these efforts in Canada would lead to a successful holiday season, but we did not see the required step-change in our holiday performance,” said Cornell. “There is no doubt that the next several weeks will be difficult, but we will make every effort to handle our exit in an appropriate and orderly way.”

As a result of the CCAA filing, Target Corporation has determined that Target Canada and its subsidiaries will be deconsolidated from Target Corporation's financial statements as of the date of the filing. Target Corporation expects to report approximately $5.4 billion of pre-tax losses on discontinued operations in the fourth quarter of 2014, driven primarily by the write-down of the Corporation's investment in Target Canada, along with costs associated with exit or disposal activities and quarter-to-date Canadian Segment operating losses prior to today's filing. Target Corporation expects to report approximately $275 million of pre-tax losses on discontinued operations in fiscal 2015.

Target Corporation's cash costs to discontinue Canadian operations are expected to be $500 million to $600 million, most of which will occur in the Company's 2015 fiscal year or later. The Company has sufficient resources to fund these expected costs, including cash on hand and ongoing cash generation by its U.S. business.

Target Corporation expects this decision will increase its earnings in fiscal 2015 and beyond, and increase its cash flow in fiscal 2016 and beyond.

As a result of the decision Target Corporation will operate as a single segment that includes all U.S. operations.

Based on performance through November and December, Target Corporation now expects to report fourth quarter 2014 US comparable sales of approximately 3%, better than prior guidance of approximately 2%, driven primarily by increased traffic and stronger-than-expected digital sales.