Sears’ biggest shareholder has suggested the company sell its well-known Kenmore brand and some real estate holdings, offering itself as a potential buyer.
The ailing company has sold off other major brands as it struggles to stay afloat, with Kenmore a notable remainder of the powerhouse retailer that survived two world wars and the Great Depression.
FILE – In this July 20, 2017, file photo, the Kenmore Elite Smart Electric Dryer and Front Load Washer, center, appears on display at a Sears store, in West Jordan, Utah. Private equity firm ESL Investments is offering to buy struggling Sear’s Kenmore brand and home improvement unit. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)The private equity firm ESL Investment, headed by Sears chairman and CEO Edward Lampert, said it might buy the assets – Kenmore, Sears Home Services’ home improvement business and the company’s Parts Direct business – if the company is willing to sell.
That sent shares of Sears Holding Corp., which have lost more than 70 percent of their value in the past year, up by more than 7.6 percent in trading Monday on the Nasdaq Exchange.
Lampert, who combined Sears and Kmart in 2005 after helping bring Kmart out of bankruptcy, has long pledged to turn the company’s fortunes around. He said the retailer would find ways to capitalize on its best-known brands such as Kenmore appliances and DieHard car batteries, as well as its vast holdings of land.