Sears expects $446.5M in proceeds from offering

Hoffman Estates-based Sears expects to receive about $446.5 million in gross proceeds from an offering tied to the spinoff of its Hometown and Outlet stores.

Sears Holdings Corp. had signaled in February that it would split off the companies as a separate publicly traded entity.

The offering of rights to purchase shares of the spinoff debuted on the Nasdaq under the “SHOSR” ticker symbol in September. Sears said Tuesday that the rights offering expired on Monday and that preliminary results show that more than 95 percent of the options were exercised.

Sears anticipates distributing 23.1 million shares to rights holders.

Sears Hometown is expected to take out a $250 million credit line. The company then plans to draw $100 million under the credit line to pay a cash dividend to Sears Holdings before it separates from the company. That will make up part of the part of the proceeds that Sears Holdings receives.

Sears, which also owns Kmart, has looked at spinoffs and real estate sales to restore profitability and boost shareholder confidence. Aside from the separation of the Hometown, Outlet and some hardware stores, the Hoffman Estates, Ill., company announced in May that it would spin off a stake in its Canada division.

Sears Hometown expects its stock to start trading on the Nasdaq under the “SHOS” ticker symbol on Friday.

Sears Holdings shares finished at $58.58 per share on Monday. They are down 32 percent since peaking got the past year at $85.90 in mid-March. They traded as low as $28.89 in early January.