Sears saved from liquidation: green light to Lampert’s plan

Sears sees the light at the end of the tunnel. The bankruptcy judge of New York approved the plan of Edward S. Lampert, president and former CEO of the department store company in order to save the group.

After a three-day court hearing in White Plains (New York), Lampert managed to succeed and will purchase 425 Sears and Kmart stores for 5.2 billion dollars, which will guarantee 45,000 workplaces for its employees.

With that decision, the judge dismissed the request from a creditor group not guaranteed by Sears, which had questioned the plan of the former CEO of the group and had asked for the liquidation of the department store company.

Sears will continue in operation, even though a group of unsecured creditors had asked for its dissolution

Sears filed for Chapter 11, the American equivalent of the Spanish agreement with creditors in October 2018, due to the group’s inability to face a debt of 134 million dollars. The company’s liabilities amounted to 11.34 billion dollars. Last January, Lampert reached an agreement with creditors to repurchase the company through its investment fund ESL Investments for 5.2 billion dollars.

The department store company is one of the historical ones of the US retail. The origins of the group date back to 1886, when Richard Sears began selling watches by mail. Over the years, the company took a step forward, starting with the marketing of products by catalogue, until in the 20th century began a great development with stores.

The group consolidated its position in the department store segment and remined as the top retailer in the United States until the 1990s, when Walmart took its position.