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Sears Holdings(SHLD) announced today that it plans to spin off Orchard Supply Hardware. Orchard operates 89 full service hardware stores in California, averaging 40,600 square feet. No date or distribution ratio have been set, but the company does state in its S-1 that it hopes to trade under the OSHS symbol. After the spinoff, ESL investments and affiliates, controlled by Edward Lampert, will own 61% of the company’s outstanding stock. The company had $8.7MM in profit in 2010 on $660MM in sales, but swung to a $1MM loss in the most recent quarter. It will also begin life with $340MM in debt. The company will continue to sell Sears appliances and brands such as Craftsman and Weatherbeater.
Mark Baker, who joined the company as CEO in March 2011, has extensive experience as an executive at Home Depot(HD), and was most recently President and COO of Scotts-Miracle Gro.(SMG)
Disclosure: The author of this post owns shares in SHLD
There’s a lot of leverage on the spin. What are the chances it doesn’t go BK in the first couple of years?
Reasonable, I think. It’s been a very tough environment for home improvement, but the chain seems to be able to service its debt. Any improvement in the economy should give this a good tailwind.