30 June 2004
Kmart To Sell Up To 54 Stores To Sears For $621 Million
Posted by Zane under: News .
Kmart Holding Corp., which closed about a third of its stores to exit from bankruptcy last year, agreed to sell as many as 54 stores for a maximum of $621 million to Sears, Roebuck and Co. to raise more cash.The number of stores, locations, and price will be decided in the next 75 days, Troy, Michigan-based Kmart said in statement. Kmart will operate the stores until at least March, and Sears will consider employing the stores’ workers.
Kmart Chairman Edward Lampert is bolstering the company’s $2.2 billion in cash by selling sites after closing 599 stores following bankruptcy in January 2002. The sale will give Sears, which has the bulk of its stores in shopping malls, more stand- alone stores in big cities.
Sears, based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, also plans to acquire leases for seven stores from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the retailer said in a separate statement.
Shares of Kmart, the No. 3 U.S. discount retailer, fell $3.41 to $68.22 yesterday. Shares started trading last June after the company’s emergence from bankruptcy.
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