Sears preparing potential bankruptcy filing: report

Sears Holdings Corp. could file for bankruptcy as early as this week as the company assesses how to manage its more than $130 million in debt, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

The news outlet reported that Sears has $134 million in debt due on Monday. While chairman Edward Lampert could make the payment, the company has hired M-III Partners, a boutique advisory firm, to put together a possible bankruptcy filing.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Lampert, whose hedgefund owns a majority of Sears’s shares, is hoping to secure a restructuring of the company’s debt, which would include the company divesting from its Kenmore appliance brand.

{mosads}Sears has accrued more than $11 billion in losses since 2011, and the Journal reported that the company must raise more than $1 billion a year to stay in business.

The once-prominent retailer has seen scores of its brick-and-mortar locations close in recent years as it faces growing financial losses. The Wall Street Journal reported that Sears still has nearly 900 stores in business.

The company acknowledged earlier this year that it was a victim of a hack that affected fewer than 100,000 of its customers. The hackers likely accessed credit card information belonging to customers who made online purchases at Sears and Kmart stores between late September and October of last year, the company said.