Sears looks to sell its home improvement business to a rival

11/5/2018
An online rival wants to acquire the Sears Home Improvement business.

Sears Holdings Corp. announced it is seeking court approval of a "stalking horse" asset purchase agreement with Service.com to acquire the Sears Home Improvement business (SHIP) in a sale process under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. SHIP, which is based in Longwood, Florida, is a unit of the Sears Home Services division.

Under the agreement, which is subject to higher or better offers, Service.com would purchase SHIP for approximately $60 million in cash. Service.com is an online service that helps consumers find contractors.

"The sale of SHIP is an important step for Sears Holdings as we continue working to achieve a comprehensive restructuring," said Robert A. Riecker, CFO and member of the “office of the chief executive, which managing the company’s day-to-day operations during the bankruptcy restructuring process. "We look forward to completing this process expeditiously so that we can maximize the value of SHIP and ensure a seamless transition for all of our stakeholders."

Sears intends to implement bid procedures to allow other qualified bidders the opportunity to submit competing bids through a court-supervised sale process. The auction process and final agreement will be subject to the approval of the court. Sears anticipates that a sale will be completed by early January 2019.

Sears filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings on Oct. 15, 2018.
X
This ad will auto-close in 10 seconds