Photo: Sears Holdings
Sears Holdings' stock price got a lift yesterday on reports the retailer is moving closer to receiving bids on the company’s Craftsman tool brand that could reach as high as $2 billion.
Earlier this year, Sears Holdings announced it would consider selling its three big brands — Craftsman, DieHard and Kenmore. The consensus of a RetailWire discussion at the time was that such a move would constitute a white flag moment for Sears Holdings, which has looked for ways to raise money as Kmart and Sears continue to falter. But, one might ask, from the perspective of the Craftsman brand, could a sale represent a new lease on life?
Among those mentioned by Bloomberg as potential bidders are Apex Tool Group and Black & Decker from the U.S. as well as Husqvarna AB (Sweden) and Techtronic Industries (Hong Kong). Proposals, which are due by the end of the month, will not constitute a formal agreement. That will need to be worked out between Sears Holdings and the eventual buyer.
At 28.5 percent market share, Craftsman remains the leader in the hand tools and accessories category, according to Stevenson TraQline, via a Bloomberg report in May. The brand’s portable power tools have a nine percent share. Both lines have seen sales decline in recent years.
Sears Holdings is exploring the sale of Craftsman at a time when Edward Lampert, the company’s chairman and chief executive, has lashed out at reports that Kmart is nearing its end. The chain, which will close some 130 stores this year, was identified by the Moody’s ratings agency as a contributing factor in its downgrade of Sears Holdings last month. Moody’s cited “the uncertainty of the viability of the Kmart franchise in particular given its meaningful market share erosion” in its press release on the downgrade.
Posting on a company blog, Mr. Lampert called the Kmart reporting “irresponsible” and “likely intended to do harm to our company to the benefit of those who seek to gain advantage from posting these inaccurate reports.”
- Sears’ Craftsman Said to Get Interest From Black & Decker – Bloomberg
- Committed to our Members, Kmart and our Transformation – Sears Holdings
- Sears CEO Says No Plans to Close Kmart – Dow Jones Business News
- Moody’s downgrades Sears’ Speculative Grade Liquidity rating to SGL-3 – Moody’s Investor Service
- Should Sears sell off its Craftsman, DieHard and Kenmore brands? – RetailWire
- Sears to explore options for Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard – Bloomberg/San Antonio Express-News