Lands’ End Will Officially Be Freed From Sears On April 4

After 12 years in the Sears family fold, Lands’ End is heading out on its own in a spinoff set for April 4. From there on out, it’ll be a stand-alone, publicly-traded company, without the shadow of its struggling former parent company looming over all those fleece jackets and sensible sweaters.

We first heard whispers of the potential separation back in October, with more definite spinoff plans floated in December. Now, according to an amended filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, via the Chicago Tribune, it’s officially on the books.

The filing includes the timeline of events and other details, like how stakeholders in Sears will get about .3 shares of Lands’ End common stock on March 24. Lands’ End will be listed on the NASDAQ as “LE” and will open for trading on April 7.

In return for its freedom, Lands’ End will fork over a cash dividend of about $500 million before the split, made possible by a new loan.

Back in December it seemed likely that Sears is bent on severing its connections with some of its more successful companies, including Lands’ End, Sears Outlet and Hometown stores. It’s basically selling body parts on the not-so-black market at this point.

Although most Lands’ End outlets are located within Sears, there won’t be any store surgeries to extract and separate the two: The companies will have a new lease agreement to keep those locations where they are, at least for the time being.

Lands’ End to spin off from Sears on April 4 [Chicago Tribune]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist