ESL Investments Officially Scores Winning Bid for Sears, Kmart

Following weeks of speculation after a questionable holiday season, Sears and Kmart will live on for now. ESL Investments, headed by Sears chairman and former CEO Eddie Lampert, is the winning bidder in a court-supervised auction for “substantially all” of Sears Holding Corp.’s assets. Pending bankruptcy court approval, ESL will take ownership of the “go forward stores” that will remain open, plus brands such as Kenmore and Diehard in a deal valued at more than $5.2 billion.

The hearing to approve the sale is scheduled for Feb. 1. Provided the closing conditions are satisfied, the transaction is expected to close on or about Feb. 8.

Sources close to the process say that there are still objectors to the plan, including unsecured creditors. If finalized, the ESL acquisition will preserve around 45,000 jobs, but the move is still controversial given that Lampert, in addition to serving as Sears’ chairman and CEO, was also the company’s largest shareholder and creditor. Rise Up Retail, an organization that made news in its successful fight for employee severance during the Toys “R” Us bankruptcy notes that Lampert will control 45,000 jobs, following a loss of more than 250,000 jobs under 15 years of his leadership.

Visit the restructuring hub at Prime Clerk to get more information on the Sears restructuring process.

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.