A shuttered Sears store (Credit: iStock)
For Sears Holdings, it appears the end is at hand. The company will pursue liquidation after it couldn’t reach a deal with Chairman Edward Lampert on his $4.4 billion takeover bid for the 125-year-old chain.
Eddie Lampert (Credit: Getty Images)
Sources told Reuters the company’s board will ask a bankruptcy judge on Tuesday for permission to liquidate, closing all of its hundreds of remaining stores and selling off all its assets across the country.
Sears filed for bankruptcy protection in October after years of declining sales and store closures, pummeled by the rise of e-commerce and inability to adjust.
Since the bankruptcy filing, the once-mighty retailer has announced several more rounds of store closures.
Lampert’s hedge fund, ESL Investments, on Dec. 28 submitted a $4.4 billion takeover bid that would keep some 425 Sears stores open, joining two competing bids for the company from liquidation groups. ESL also said it would buy all the retailer’s remaining real estate for $1.8 billion if the takeover bid was rejected.
Lampert’s lawyers still plan to make their case for the ESL bid at Tuesday’s bankruptcy court hearing, sources told Reuters. A bankruptcy auction for Sears’ assets is not due until Jan. 14. [Reuters] — John O’Brien
Source: The Real Deal Los Angeles