Jan 10, 2019

Eddie Lampert's second chance to "save" Sears

Courtenay Brown
Note: Fiscal years shown above; 2006 was the 1st year Kmart-Sears merger was reflected in annual revenue; Data: FactSet; Chart: Chris Canipe/Axios

Sears chairman Eddie Lampert has upped his bid for some of the failed company's stores to $5 billion, hoping to shield it from liquidation, Reuters reports.

The state of play: The offer is 13% higher than Lampert's previous bid, which was rejected earlier this week.

Our thought bubble: Look at this brief timeline of Sears in the 21st century...

  • Lampert's hedge fund, ESL Investments, bought bankrupt Kmart in 2003 to merge with Sears.
  • After the Kmart-Sears Roebuck merger, Lampert was named chairman of the combined company, and then named CEO in 2013.
  • Lampert sold hundreds of stores to a spin-off company in which he was an investor, took in millions of dollars worth of loans from himself and ESL, and shed marquee brands to raise cash — all while being accused of ripping Sears apart for his own personal gain.
  • The company filed for bankruptcy in October.

Go deeper: The cannibal of Sears

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