Sears wins reprieve from liquidation as Chairman Lampert makes last-minute bid on bankrupt company [View all]

[Zorro]

Source: CNBC

Department store chain Sears won a reprieve from liquidating Friday after its chairman, Eddie Lampert, submitted a bid in an effort to buy the retailer and keep it alive, people familiar with the situation tell CNBC.

Lampert's hedge fund ESL Investments put forward his tentative proposal for Sears earlier this month with his formal submission due today.

A bid could help divert liquidation, but may not necessarily. Sears' advisors have until Jan. 4 to decide whether ESL is a "qualified bidder." Only then, could ESL take part in an auction against liquidation bids on Jan. 14. They will weigh the value of Lampert's bid against offers to liquidate the company.

The terms or structure of Lampert's bid could not immediately be determined. If it is similar to the $4.6 billion proposal Lampert outlined earlier this month, it is likely to face push-back from the company's unsecured creditors. As part of the initial bid, which regulators required Lampert to make public, financing would in part stem from $1.8 billion in debt that Lampert would forgive through a so-called "credit bid."

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/28/sears-chairman-eddie-lampert-submits-bit-for-company.html

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Sears is hanging on by its fingernails, and their 68,000 employees may soon be out of work.