Lampert to Present New Sears Offer as Talks Continue

(Bloomberg) -- Eddie Lampert presented a new bid for Sears on Tuesday that included some concessions as talks to save the bankrupt retailer from liquidation continue, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.

The new offer includes terms that are more favorable to the department store chain and its creditors, including more cash, said the people, who asked not to be named as the negotiations are confidential. The overall value of Lampert’s offer is still pegged at over $5 billion, one of the people said.

Parties involved in the talks are evaluating the revised proposal and there are no assurances that a deal to keep Sears in business will be reached, the people said. The talks are part of an auction for Sears Holdings Corp. that has now stretched in to its second day, after more than 12 hours of discussions on Monday.

A representative for ESL Investments, the hedge fund run by Sears Chairman Lampert that made the offer, didn’t provide comment. A representative for Sears declined to comment. Sears is scheduled to file a notice of the auction results with the bankruptcy court on Jan. 16.

The bankruptcy auction for the retailer’s assets is taking place in the midtown Manhattan law offices of Sears’s counsel, Weil Gotshal & Manges. Participants have been hesitant to accept Lampert’s previous offer, but are focused more on his proposal rather than bids from liquidators, people with knowledge of the process said Monday.

Monday’s talks were stalled by disagreements including over ESL’s request for release from certain claims, which would insulate Lampert from lawsuits over its previous turnaround deals, said the people. The committee of unsecured creditors, the lowest-ranked creditors in the case, say they could sue Lampert for millions of dollars over deals he made during his time as chief executive of the company.

Lampert has repeatedly pointed to the number of jobs at stake in seeking support for his plan, making some lenders wary of being blamed for the collapse of the iconic chain if they refuse to provide funds.

--With assistance from Eliza Ronalds-Hannon and Josh Saul.

To contact the reporters on this story: Davide Scigliuzzo in New York at dscigliuzzo2@bloomberg.net;Katherine Doherty in New York at kdoherty23@bloomberg.net;Lauren Coleman-Lochner in New York at llochner@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rick Green at rgreen18@bloomberg.net, Nikolaj Gammeltoft, Dawn McCarty

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