SEARS X-MAS STORY
Yule goodbye: rpt.
Fake Christmas trees and holiday lights could be the last items Sears ever sells.
The 125-year-old retailer is being nudged into liquidation by its lenders, which are willing to pony up $300 million to $500 million to get it through the holiday period, according to a CNBC report.
The idea is to prop up Sears while the company looks for a buyer, according to the report, which cited unidentified sources.
Sears Chief Executive Eddie Lampert is putting together a proposal to buy the company out of bankruptcy, but creditors appear skeptical and have been pressing for an outright liquidation, according to reports.
Talks are continuing in advance of a $134 million debt payment that’s coming due for Sears on Monday — a payment that Lampert has reportedly told associates he doesn’t plan to make.
Lampert is Sears’ largest shareholder, with about half the company’s shares. In early afternoon trading on Friday, the stock rose as high as 46 cents before closing the session up 6 cents, to 41 cents, giving the floundering retailer a market capitalization of $44 million.
The latest plan would involve closing some of the 866 stores. The lenders want to shutter 150 right away and evaluate another 250 while keeping open about 300 stores, according to Reuters.
Among the Sears assets that haven’t already been pledged to lenders are its Kenmore brand, about 200 stores and its home improvement and services division.
As part of a restructuring plan, Lampert offered to purchase Kenmore and the home division for $480 million, which would allow Sears to pay its debt obligation and to stock up on merchandise for the holidays.
But Sears’ board recently rejected the plan. A special committee made up of two directors — Ann Reese and Paul DePodesta — declined to rubber-stamp Lampert’s proposal, fearing that the board would be vulnerable to litigation, The Post learned.
“They are charged with keeping this out of litigation and making sure it doesn’t look like Lampert ran roughshod on this board,” said a person with knowledge of the situation. “Many people think Lampert has pillaged this company, and the board is sensitive to that perception.”
This week Sears added a bankruptcy specialist, Alan Carr, to its board of directors, and the company retained a boutique restructuring firm, M-III Partners.