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Sears Agrees to Consider Revised Takeover Bid
Chairman Eddie Lampert has until 4 p.m. EST today to submit a new offer to save the historic retailer.
There’s another chance for the Sears Holdings Corp. to be saved; Chairman Eddie Lampert has until late Wednesday afternoon to submit his revised takeover bid for the retailer.
New York—Sears might not be done yet.
The 126-year-old retailer agreed Tuesday to consider a revised takeover bid from Chairman Eddie Lampert.
Last week, Lampert submitted a $4.4 billion bid to save a portion of Sears Holdings Corp. via Transform Holdco LLC, an affiliate of his private equity firm, ESL Investments Inc.
It included $1.3 billion in financing and was for 425 Sears and Kmart stores, about half the number of stores Sears had when it filed for bankruptcy this fall.
Sears Holdings Corp. had until Jan. 4 to accept the bid, but the deadline came and went without any updates or statements from the retailer.
Reports came out Monday quoting people close to the situation who said Sears had rejected the bid and was preparing to liquidate.
According to Bloomberg, Lampert’s offer was rejected because there was too little cash to cover costs incurred in bankruptcy, and it undervalued inventory and other assets compared with what liquidators were indicating they would pay.
Now, Lampert has the chance to update his offer to rescue the retailer.
ESL Investment said in a statement shared with National Jeweler Tuesday that it “appreciates the encouragement” from the court and the engagement of debtors as it works to revise its bid.
“As we have said before, our proposal provides substantially more value to stakeholders than would be the case in liquidation and is the only option to save an iconic American retailer and up to 50,000 jobs,” the statement reads. “We believe in Sears and will continue to do everything we can to ensure that it has a profitable future.”
Neither Sears Holdings nor its attorneys responded to a request for confirmation or comment from National Jeweler by press time.
According to Reuters, Lampert is expected to submit the revised offer, as well as a $120 million deposit, by 4 p.m. EST today (Jan. 9). No details of the new bid have been disclosed.
A bankruptcy auction for the assets of Sears Holdings is scheduled for Jan. 14, where Lampert’s bid, if accepted, will compete with bids from liquidators.
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