While it shouldn’t really come as a surprise, Bloomberg is reporting that Sears Canada is preparing to seek court protection from creditors in the next coming weeks.
Industry insiders point out that, although seeking creditor protection is usually an effort to restructure the business to continue operations, it’s like that the court filing will lead to Sears Canada’s liquidation. The resulting filing may see the business sold off in pieces, with Sears’ most valuable assets lying in real estate. The only problem with Sears’ real estate holdings is that most of the locations are situated in lower end shopping malls making a sale to one strategic buyer unlikely.
Sears has yet to make an official statement on the matters, but it seems as if everyone knows the days of Sears Canada are limited and it’s likely that another prominent retailer in Canada goes the way of the dodo.
Source: Bloomberg