The 125 year-old American retail icon and home to Kenmore and Die Hard was about to put 68,000 people out of work and possibly fold forever until this evening. With the internet and brick and mortar giants Target and Walmart it’s been hard to be competitive for the past couple decades. Some of you may of thought Sears was done in the 1990s. Today might change the course that can keep Sears around for another century. Hopefully for them their fate is better than the Toys ‘R’ Us collapse.
From Reuters:
- Sears Holdings Corp Chairman Eddie Lampert has submitted a roughly $4.6 billion takeover bid for the bankrupt U.S. retailer, representing its only chance of escaping liquidation and laying off tens of thousands of workers, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
- The offer came after Sears’ existing lenders Bank of America Corp and Citigroup Inc, as well Royal Bank of Canada, which was not previously a lender, agreed to provide a $950 million asset-based loan and a $350 million revolving credit line to back Lampert’s bid, the sources said.
- Some of Lampert’s bid relies on $1.8 billion of Sears debt that his hedge fund ESL Investments Inc already holds and Lampert plans to forgive to back his offer, the sources said. The bid also has about $400 million in financing from non-bank lenders, according to the sources.
- It is possible that Lampert’s bid for Sears will be rejected or otherwise fall through, the sources cautioned, asking not to be identified because the matter is confidential.
- A U.S. bankruptcy court judge must approve any sale of Sears. The judge will weigh the opinions of other stakeholders, including unsecured creditors who have argued they could recover more of their investment if the department store operator winds down.
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Do you think Sears will make it to the year 3000?
