Hudson's Bay to buy online luxury retailer Gilt

Canadian department store operator Hudson's Bay Co has agreed to buy online luxury retailer Gilt Groupe Holdings Inc for about $250 million.

Hudson's Bay expects the deal to add about $500 million to its 2016 total sales, the company said on Thursday. It reported revenue of C$8.17 billion for 2014.

Gilt, which runs limited-time discounted online sales of apparel and other products, has struggled in the face of stiff competition from other flash-sale websites.

Hudson's Bay, which has a market value of about C$3 billion ($2.12 billion), said it plans to open Gilt shops inside its Saks Off 5th stores.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the news last month.