Sears Holding Corp. (SHLD) has started the official process to explore the sales of its Kenmore brand along with its home service and parts businesses. Last month, CEO Eddie Lampert had urged the board to sell off certain parts of the business and had even offered to buy them.
Lampert, a major shareholder in Sears through his hedge fund ESL Investments, could end up eventually buying Kenmore. Sears has appointed a special committee to oversee the sales process. The news sent Sears’ shares soaring for a brief time before retreating to a modest pace.
Sears has been struggling for a long time and the company is trying to stay afloat through store closures, cost-cutting and debt repayment extensions. The retailer sold its Craftsman brand last year to Stanley, Black & Decker.
It also sold over 200 stores to a real estate firm where Lampert is a stakeholder. Along with the Kenmore brand and its two business divisions, ESL also offered to buy real estate assets from Sears. ESL said its aim was to get the highest value possible for Sears.
Over the past couple of years, Sears has split parts of its business and sold them off. It also continues to close down several of its stores. These measures are expected to help reduce debt and bring in more cash.
The company recently entered into an agreement with Amazon (AMZN) for the purchase and installation of tires. Despite these efforts and Lampert’s optimism that Sears could regain profitability, there still remains doubts that that the company will be able to survive.