Toronto — Beleagured retail giant Hudson's Bay Co. is cutting about 825 management and administrative jobs and shuffling its senior management team to save a maximum of $45 million a year.

The Toronto-based retailer, which made the announcement late Thursday, said it is transitioning into a single-company operation.

"We have simplified our operations and we are harvesting the benefits of completing the integration of all remaining HBC functions,'' said CEO George Heller in a release after the close of financial markets.

"With the transition to a single-company operation completed and tested, we are now positioned to scale back our infrastructure without impeding our growth plans.''

The restructuring is expected to create savings of between $40 and $45 million on annualized basis.

The company, which is also the subject of a $1-billion takeover bid by American businessman Jerry Zucker, will assume a pre-tax restructuring charge of approximately $28 million in the third quarter of this year.

That cost will reflect severance and costs associated with the completion of the transition into a single-company operation.

There will also be an additional pre-tax charge of about $7.5 million to earnings related to severance provisions beyond the restructuring charge.

Analysts said while the cuts were not entirely unexpected, the timing was likely motivated by Zucker's hostile bid and a desire to boost both profits and its share price.

"They are copying Sears,'' said Bob Gibson, an analyst with Octagon Capital Corp.

Arch-rival Sears Canada announced last month that it will cut 1,200 jobs across the country to improve productivity as the big retailer refocuses on its core department store business _ a move that sent its share price flying.

The Toronto-based company first hinted of possible job cuts in September after it announced the sale of its credit and financial services division to JPMorgan Chase & Co. for $2.2 billion.

Since that time, HBC has announced that it too is mulling a possible sale of its lucrative credit-card division which analysts estimate will fetch about $600 million.

"They probably had looked at this before when Sears made the announcement but I think the timing has to do with Mr. Zucker,'' Gibson said.

As part of the changes, Michael Rousseau, executive vice-president and CFO, will head the company's credit and loyalty operations.

Marc Chouinard, who is currently the president of the HBC's merchandising group, will become chief operating officer.

And Thomas Haig will assume a new role as executive vice-president assigned to Heller's office.

Prior to the announcement, HBC's shares (TSX:HBC) gained four cents to close at $15.34 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.