Sears is fucked. It's an amazing story really. It's fucking brilliant.
The CEO Eddie Lampert is doing something similar to what Mitt Romney and his company did - They would buy a company, then charge them huge management fees. Instead, Eddie Lampert loaned Sears $2.4 billion dollars from his hedge fund, raking in $220 million dollars a year in interest. At the same time, Lampert owns Seritage Growth Properties, which purchased $2.7 billion dollars of Sears properties and now charges Sears $300 million a year in rent and other fees. There are other deals too - For example, Eddie Lampert also bought the "Land's End" clothing line. Eddie Lampert has also loaned hundreds of millions of dollars to Sears directly.
It's a win win situation for Eddie Lampert. Every year that Sears continues to struggle, Lampert makes half a billion dollars a year. In the event Sears folds, Lampert owns $2.7 billion dollars of Sears properties, and the $2.4 billion dollar loan is secured debt which means in the event Sears fails or goes into bankruptcy, the hedge fund Lampert owns is first in line to get paid.
It's just like the banks did during the recession. For every two years Sears stays open he makes a billion dollars in interest, rent, and other fees. When Sears fails, he gets his money back AND $2 billion worth of property. LOL.
This man is raping the company.
Don't believe me? Read about it:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...art/638218002/