No Sears Liquidation: $5 Billion Bid Saves Retailer

HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL —Sears Chairman and former CEO Eddie Lampert kept the 126-year-old retailer alive in an early Wednesday deal, winning an auction for the chain's remaining 400 stores, including more than 30 in Illinois, with a bid of over $5 billion. Lampert unveiled his latest offer Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing anonymous sources. The bid, aimed at preventing Sears from being liquidated, included some concessions, including more cash.

Lampert's increased bid won out over competing offers from liquidators, which would have forced the Illinois-based chain to close all stores and sell off its assets, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The bid Tuesday followed more than 12 hours of discussions Monday on whether to save the iconic retailer. The future of Sears and its Kmart brand are being discussed in Manhattan after a bankruptcy judge last week gave the company one last chance to survive. Sears, which has more than 30 Illinois locations remaining, was reportedly very close to liquidating.

But negotiators didn’t immediately fall in love with Lampert’s plan to revive the struggling store, Yahoo! Finance reported, citing anonymous sources. Discussions began again around 9 a.m. Tuesday and negotiators planned to focus on Lampert’s proposal rather than other bids from liquidators.

Sears, which filed for bankruptcy protection in October, announced more than 250 store closings in 2018. Lampert was given the chance to improve upon his $4.4 billion bid to acquire the company and keep its roughly 400 stores operating and 50,000 workers employed. His initial bid was deemed “insufficient.”

Lampert was the only person to put forth a proposal to save the struggling chain in its entirety, according to The Associated Press. He sweetened his bid for Sears to more than $5 billion and added a $120 million cash deposit through an affiliate of his ESL hedge fund.

Lampert, who took control of Sears in 2005, has said publicly he wants to rescue the company because he thinks it can still succeed.

“For as long as I have been involved with Sears, I have cared deeply about the company, its associates and the people they serve,” Lampert said in a statement sent through ESL to AP. “While the opportunity I saw from the start for Sears to benefit from the disruptive changes in retail and technology has not worked out so far, it is still there to be taken. Every transformation involves perseverance and risk, but I am hopeful that we can execute better and faster on the smaller platform we are bidding on ... There is every reason to fight for its future.”

The successful bid won't save all remaining Sears stores. In December, the company announced that stores in Colorado Springs and Pueblo would be closed. Sears stores in Grand Junction, Lakewood and Centennial were already on the list, as well as the Kmart in Arvada.

• Related: More Sears Stores Closing In Colorado
• Related: Sears Bankruptcy: 2 Denver-Area Stores Will Close, 142 Nationwide
• Related: Grand Junction Sears, Arvada Kmart Closing: Important Dates

Sears' most recent store closures were announced on Dec. 28, the same day Lampert made his bid for the company. The 80 stores announced for closure that day will terminate business in March 2019. An additional 40 store closures announced in November will close in February 2019.

The Hoffman Estates, Illinois-based company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October, announcing the closure of 142 unprofitable locations at the time.

Patch national staffers Feroze Dhanoa and Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

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