Sears Inks $60M Deal for Home Improvement BusinessThe transaction is subject to better offers at an auction.

[Collection]While Sears Holdings Corp. continues to negotiate a new supplemental financing package, it’s hoping to garner some financial breathing room through the sale of its home improvement business to Service.com for $60 million. According to court documents filed with a federal bankruptcy court in White Plains, N.Y., the retailer said its home improvement business has “over 2,000 active service professionals and independent service contractors,” who do work from flooring to kitchen remodeling, exteriors work for entry doors, siding and roofing to HVAC systems and water heater maintenance to repair services. The so-called stalking horse agreement with Service.com essentially serves as baseline pricing for the asset, with the hope that better offers will be forthcoming. If Service.com is outbid, it will receive a break-up fee of 1.5 percent of the cash purchase price to be paid by the successful bidder. Service.com has also agreed to remain as the back-up bidder if it gets outbid, in case the winning bidder cannot close on the transaction. If no other bidders come forward, Service.com will be the acquirer, pending bankruptcy court approval. Sears is seeking Nov. 15 as the hearing date for approval of the stalking horse bid. The retailer has set Dec. 11 as the deadline

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