Judge OKs Sears chairman’s $5.2b takeover bid

Sears chairman Eddie Lampert’s $5.2 billion bid was approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain on Thursday, at a hearing in White Plains, N.Y.

Drain authorized a deal to sell the major remaining assets of Sears to its chairman, which will transfer about 425 stores and 45,000 jobs to the largest shareholder and former CEO Eddie Lampert's hedge fund, ESL Investments. Sears will continue to close some of its stores. Lampert’s business plan calls for him to sell about $200 million a year in real estate and more than $900 million in assets overall, according to court testimony Thursday.

And Drain rejected arguments from a committee of creditors, including landlords and major vendors, who had urged the court to shut the company down and liquidate the assets. The creditors, which are owed more than $3 billion from Sears, argued closing the company was the best way to return the most money, reported CNN Business.