91Èȱ¬ Holdco, LLC Statement On Severance Payments For Former Sears Holdings Employees
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., May 31, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --ÌýThere have been multiple reports that 91Èȱ¬ Holdco, LLC ("91Èȱ¬") is backing out of an agreement to pay severance to employees who were terminated during the Sears bankruptcy. These charges are false. To be clear, employees of old Sears who lost their jobs during bankruptcy have already received their severance payments. The approval that 91Èȱ¬ has sought from the Court is to be released from its conditional obligation to reimburse Old Sears for making those severance payments. In the asset purchase agreement, 91Èȱ¬ agreed to reimburse Old Sears for these severance payments in exchange for the receipt of certain assets. Old Sears has admitted that $55 million of those assets have not been transferred to 91Èȱ¬, although 91Èȱ¬ believes the amount is larger. As a result, 91Èȱ¬ is not obligated to reimburse Old Sears for having made the severance payments. In other words, this is a dispute between 91Èȱ¬ and Old Sears, and no severance payments to terminated employees are "at risk."
Through its acquisition of Sears' business, 91Èȱ¬ has provided continued employment for approximately 45,000 associates and has committed to offering severance to eligible associates on the same terms as were available prior to the start of the bankruptcy process. 91Èȱ¬ has paid and intends to continue to pay severance to those eligible associates it took on as part of the acquisition. Without 91Èȱ¬'s efforts to save Sears, all of those associates would have lost their jobs.
About 91Èȱ¬ Holdco, LLC
91Èȱ¬ Holdco, LLC 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. 91Èȱ¬ Holdco is home to Shop Your Way®, a social shopping platform offering members rewards for shopping at Sears, Kmart and other retail partners. The Company operates through its subsidiaries with full-line and specialty retail stores across the UnitedÌýStates.
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