Sears aims to close up to 150 stores in bankruptcy - sources

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

BUSINESS NEWS OCTOBER 12, 2018 / 1:41 PM / UPDATED 20 MINUTES AGO

Exclusive: Sears aims to close up to 150 stores in bankruptcy - sources

Jessica DiNapoli, Mike Spector
3 MIN READ

(Reuters) - Sears Holdings Corp is planning to close up to 150 of its department and discount stores and keep at least another 300 open as part of a plan to restructure under U.S. bankruptcy protection, people familiar with the matter said Friday.

The plans, which remained in flux on Friday afternoon, would leave the fate of Sears’ remaining roughly 250 stores uncertain, the sources said. The future of the stores could hinge on Sears’ negotiations with landlords over their leases.

The beleaguered 125-year-old retailer, once the largest in the United States, hopes to sell stores and other assets, including its Kenmore appliances brand and home services business, in court-supervised auctions while under bankruptcy protection, the sources said.

Sears Chief Executive Eddie Lampert, also the company’s largest shareholder and creditor, is exploring bidding on the assets as a so-called stalking horse, setting a floor with offers that other possible buyers could then attempt to top, the sources said.

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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sears-bankruptcy-talks-exclusive/exclusive-sears-aims-to-close-up-to-150-stores-in-bankruptcy-sources-idUSKCN1MM2CS

[CurtEastPoint]

1. Lampert is an avid follower of Ayn Rand and has used elements of Rand's philosophy to guide his

business decisions. Lampert is the owner of the 87.78 m (288 ft) motor luxury yacht named Fountainhead.

Lampert's earnings in 2004 were estimated to be $1.02 billion, making him the first Wall Street financial manager to exceed an income of $1 billion in a single year. In 2006, Lampert was featured on the Time 100 list for most influential people in the world for being one of the "brightest minds on Wall Street" and leading a new class of activist hedge funds. Lampert was the richest person in Connecticut in 2006 with a net worth of $3.8 billion.


In March 2012, Lampert was No. 367 on the Forbes world wealthiest people list with a net worth of $3.1 billion.[12] By August, 2016, Lampert had fallen to No. 810 on the list, with a net worth of $2.2 billion.