Sep 24, 2018 - Economy

Sears CEO pushes plan to prevent bankruptcy

Courtenay Brown

The exterior of a Sears department store. — Photo: Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images

Sears CEO Eddie Lampert is suggesting a last-ditch effort to prevent a bankruptcy for the embattled department store chain, according to a proposal by major shareholder ESL Partners, Lampert's hedge fund.

Why it matters: A debt payment is looming, and Sears is tight on cash. Lampert, whose hedge fund also owns Sears's debt, has a lot on the line should Sears go bankrupt.

The details of the proposal:

Sell off $1.75 billion in assets (including Sears Home Services and Kenmore).
Offload $1.5 billion worth of real estate.
Ask lenders to swap loans for equity stakes.
If approved by the board, the plan would cut Sears's $5 billion debt load to about $1.2 billion.

Go deeper: The cannibal of Sears.

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Sears CEO pushes plan to prevent bankruptcy

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