Sears has received approval for $350 million in bankruptcy financing to keep the retailer afloat through the holidays, according to CNBC. The loan will be provided by Cyrus Capital Partners, replacing a similar deal that Sears reached with Great American Capital Partners earlier in November, according to people familiar with the matter.
The financing supplements $300 million provided to Sears when the retailer filed for bankruptcy in October, bringing the total to $650 million. The money will allow Sears to continue operating during bankruptcy proceedings as the company searches for a buyer and evaluates offers from liquidators.
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The start of the holiday season hasn’t been bright for the once-mighty retail chain: Sears’ e-Commerce revenue dropped 17% for the week before Thanksgiving, 47% on Thanksgiving and Black Friday and 5% on Cyber Monday when compared to the same periods in 2017, according to Edison Trends. Sears captured just 1% of online department store market share on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, compared to 29.7% at Macy’s and 12.9% at Nordstrom.
The retailer’s brick-and-mortar base also is shrinking. The initial bankruptcy plan included closing and liquidating 142 unprofitable stores by year’s end, and Sears has since scheduled an additional 40 Sears and Kmart store closures by February 2019. The chain was already down to 687 stores and 68,000 employees as of Nov. 9, from 1,000 stores with 89,000 employees in February 2018.
Even though Sears itself may not survive beyond the holiday season, some of its individual parts are positioned to continue onward: Stanley Black & Decker purchased the Craftsman brand for $900 million in January 2017, while Service.com has placed a $60 million stalking-horse bid for Sears Home Improvement.
