Sears: Chairman wins bid to buy company

NEW YORK — Sears has confirmed that chairman and largest shareholder Eddie Lampert’s hedge fund has won tentative approval for a $5.2 billion plan to buy 425 stores and the rest of its assets.

The move, announced Thursday, preserves 45,000 jobs and is subject to court approval Feb. 1. Unsecured creditors will have the opportunity to object before then. The deal is expected to close Feb. 8.

The agreement follows marathon negotiations in an auction that started Monday as Lampert was fending off demands from unsecured creditors, who were pushing for liquidation.

“We are pleased to have reached a deal that would provide a path for Sears to emerge from the Chapter 11 process,” the restructuring committee for the Sears board said. “Importantly, the consummation of the transaction would preserve employment for tens of thousands of associates, as well as the relationships with many vendors and suppliers who provide Sears with goods and services.”

Lampert was the only one to put forth a proposal through an affiliate of his ESL Investments hedge fund to rescue the company in its entirety. He had sweetened his bid multiple times.

Since engineering the $12.3 billion acquisition of Sears by Kmart in 2005, Lampert has cut more than $1 billion in annual expenses, sold off real estate, sold the Craftsman tools business and spun off clothing unit Lands’ End Inc.

Still, many experts believe a smaller version of the retailer will not be viable.

Sears’ Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based corporate parent, which also owns Kmart, had 687 stores and 68,000 employees at the time of its bankruptcy filing in mid-October. At its peak in 2012, its stores numbered 4,000.

Lampert