Report: Sears to spin off Hometown, Outlet into separate public company

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- A report released Monday by the Associated Press said that Sears Holdings Corp. would be spinning off its Hometown and Outlet stores, along with some hardware stores, into a separate, publicly traded company.

Earlier this year, Sears had revealed it would split the companies but had not indicated the new organization would be a separate public entity.

There are approximately 1,238 Hometown, Outlet and hardware stores. Five Hometown stores have been closed, along with eight hardware stores and one Outlet unit.

Sears has not disclosed how much money it expects to raise with the spin-offs, but had projected earlier the deal would raise between $400 million and $500 million. Sears chairman Edward Lampert's ESL Investments will own a majority stake in the business being spun off.