UPDATE: Unsecured creditors of Sears Holdings filed an objection to Chairman Eddie Lampert’s $5.2 billion winning bid to save the company through his hedge fund, ESL Investments, requesting a public hearing to air their grievances.
“ESL’s bid to ‘save the company’ is nothing but the final fulfillment of a years-long scheme to deprive Sears and its creditors of assets and its employees of jobs while lining Lampert’s and ESL’s own pockets,” the creditors wrote in a note. The creditors have been long critical of Lampert for selling off some of Sears’ most valuable assets in recent years.
A hearing to approve the deal is set to take place on Feb. 1.
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Sears has reportedly received another chance at life after Chairman Eddie Lampert’s $5.2 billion bid succeeded in a bankruptcy auction, people familiar with the matter told Reuters and CNBC. The deal will keep up to 425 stores open and preserve 45,000 jobs.
Lampert boosted his earlier $5 billion bid by adding more cash and assuming more liabilities, according to the sources. Even so, the bid could still fail, as it must be approved by a U.S. bankruptcy judge before becoming official.
Additionally, a group of creditors is still objecting to the deal, according to one of the sources. The creditor group has been calling for Sears’ liquidation, claiming they would recover more through such a process than if the retailer remains a going concern.
