Even Sears’ biggest advocate, Chairman Eddie Lampert knows his $4.4 billion bid for Sears may not be enough to keep the retailer alive.
Lampert has offered two options to try to keep the company afloat, a $4.4 billion plan that would save 425 locations and a less-ambitious proposal that would keep at least 250 of the little under 700 it had when it filed for bankruptcy in October. The primary bid, made through an affiliate of his hedge fund ESL investments, Transform Holdco, would also save all of Sears’ business units, according to an outline of the plan filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. Lampert’s smaller bid would buy a few other pieces of Sears. The rest of the company would likely be liquidated.