Sears' Hometown spinoff edges lower in debut

NEW YORK — Shares of Sears Holdings Corp.'s spinoff of its Hometown and Outlet Stores are declining on its debut trading day.

The Hoffman Estates-based company, which runs Kmart and Sears stores, had signaled in February that it would split off Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores Inc. as a separate publicly traded entity.

The parent company received $446.5 million in gross proceeds. This included a cash dividend of $100 million paid by Sears Hometown before the spinoff and $346.5 million in proceeds from a rights offering.

Sears Holdings' Sears Hometown, which is trading on the Nasdaq on Friday under the "SHOS" ticker symbol, slipped 32 cents, or more than 1 percent, to $30.68 by midday.

Sears Holdings will continue to trade on the Nasdaq under the "SHLD" ticker symbol. Shares of Sears were down 70 cents, or a little over 1 percent, to $60.22.

After the spinoff, Sears Holding has more than 2,600 stores in the U.S. and Canada.