HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill.,
June 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/
-- Sears Holdings Corporation ("Holdings," "we," "us," "our,"
or the "Company") (NASDAQ: SHLD) today announced important actions
related to its previously disclosed strategic restructuring
program, which is designed to deliver $1.25
billion in annualized cost reductions. These actions include
the elimination of approximately 400 full-time positions at our
corporate offices and support functions globally, in addition to
certain positions at our field operations as well as the store
closures we initiated last week. Combined with the restructuring
actions announced since the beginning of the fiscal year, Sears
Holdings has actioned nearly $1.0
billion in annualized cost savings to date and is on track
to deliver $1.25 billion in
annualized savings through actions taken in fiscal year 2017. The
Company will continue to take all necessary action to drive
improvements in our organization to achieve our profitability
objective with a greater focus on Best Members, Best
Categories and Best Stores.
"We are making progress with the fundamental restructuring of
our operations that we initiated in February," said Edward S. Lampert, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of Sears Holdings. "We remain focused on realigning our
business model in an evolving and highly competitive retail
environment. This requires us to optimize our store footprint and
operate as a leaner and simpler organization."
Organizational Restructuring
As part of the Company's ongoing efforts to simplify its
organizational structure and enabling greater consolidation of the
Sears and Kmart corporate and support functions, approximately 400
full-time positions at our corporate offices and support functions
will be eliminated. The majority of these positions are related to
the corporate workforce at Sears Holdings' headquarters in
Hoffman Estates. In addition,
certain positions at our field operations will be impacted by these
restructuring actions. While the total number of people who are
directly affected represents a small fraction of our total
headcount, we are conscious of the impact on individual employees.
We are providing eligible associates severance compensation and
transition assistance. As part of the organizational restructuring,
the company first eliminated open positions and reduced contract
employees in an effort to minimize the impact on full-time
employees.
Transformation Progress to Date
Today's announcement is in addition to the significant actions
the Company has already taken. Since the beginning of the calendar
year 2017, we have taken decisive steps to improve our operational
performance, enhance our financial flexibility and drive our
strategic transformation, including:
- Significant progress on our strategic $1.25 billion restructuring program, with nearly
$1.0 billion in annualized cost
savings already actioned to date, including the actions announced
today;
- Paydown of approximately $418
million of term loans outstanding under our revolving credit
facility and extension of the maturity of $400 million of our $500
million 2016 Secured Loan Facility up to twelve months;
- Entered into an agreement with Metropolitan Life Insurance
Company ("MLIC") to annuitize $515
million of pension liability to reduce the overall size of
the Company's pension plan, future cost volatility and plan
administrative expenses;
- Monetization of certain real estate properties that generated
over $200 million in proceeds;
- Continued growth of our Shop Your Way ecosystem through
strategic partnerships and value offerings, including recently
announced partnerships with Citi and Time Inc.
Path Forward
We will continue to take all necessary action to drive
improvements in our organization to achieve our profitability
objective with a greater focus on Best Members, Best Categories,
Best Stores strategy. Going forward, we will focus our
investments to drive the growth of our valuable assets, such as our
Shop Your Way platform; our Kenmore, Craftsman at Sears and DieHard
brands; the nation's largest product repair services provider,
Sears Home Services; and Sears Auto Centers, a leading provider of
automotive maintenance and repair services and parts. In addition,
we continue to evaluate strategic options across our portfolio to
unlock value from our assets through partnerships, joint ventures
or other means.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains
forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the safe harbor
from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, statements about
our liquidity, our ability to achieve our cost-savings and
profitability objectives, our ability to successfully achieve our
plans to generate liquidity through monetization of our real
estate, additional debt financing actions, asset securitizations or
other potential transactions or otherwise, our intention to explore
potential partnerships or other transactions involving our Kenmore
and DieHard brands and our Sears Home Services and Sears Auto
Centers businesses, the impact of the agreement with MLIC, and
other statements that describe the Company's plans. Whenever used,
words such as "will," "expect," and other terms of similar meaning
are intended to identify such forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements, including these, are
based on the current beliefs and expectations of our management and
are subject to significant risks, assumptions and uncertainties,
many of which are beyond the Company's control, that may cause our
actual results, performance or achievements to be materially
different from any future results, performance or achievements
expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Detailed
descriptions of risks, uncertainties and factors relating to Sears
Holdings are discussed in our most recent Annual Report on Form
10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
While we believe that our forecasts and assumptions are reasonable,
we caution that actual results may differ materially. We intend the
forward-looking statements to speak only as of the time made and do
not undertake to update or revise them as more information becomes
available, except as required by law.
About Sears Holdings Corporation
Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) is a leading
integrated retailer focused on seamlessly connecting the digital
and physical shopping experiences to serve our members - wherever,
whenever and however they want to shop. Sears Holdings is home
to Shop Your Way, a social shopping platform offering members
rewards for shopping at Sears and Kmart, as well as with other
retail partners across categories important to them. The Company
operates through its subsidiaries, including Sears, Roebuck and Co.
and Kmart Corporation, with full-line and specialty retail stores
across the United States. For
more information, visit www.searsholdings.com.
NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
Sears Holdings Public
Relations
(847) 286-8371
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SOURCE Sears Holdings Corporation