summary of news report just filed:
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Sears and its independent board members have to determine by Friday if ESL's bid is "qualified" under the sale procedures approved by the bankruptcy court.
If the bid passes muster, Sears and its independent board members will then have to determine if the ESL offer is a better outcome for the company and its creditors than the either of the offers from liquidators.
A preliminary version of ESL's offer for Sears made in early December came under fire from the company's unsecured creditors because it releases Mr. Lampert and others from future lawsuits related to their oversight of Sears before its bankruptcy filing. The unsecured creditors also object to the so-called credit bid that is part of ESL's offer.
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since the judge didn't seem to buy into the objections from the creditors regarding the swap issue i previously posted, it would seem like he might go ahead and approve els's bid if it "passes muster" as discussed above.
the global bidding procedure provided for a "credit bid" so complaints about that seem off base. the global bidding procedure also provided for a bid by an "insider" so complaining that esl (through lampert) had some questionable advantage also seems off base.
regarding releasing lampert and esl from liability if this bid is approved and accepted also seems like something the court would approve. as with the "swap" deal the judge just refused to overturn (because among other reasons, it was approved by outside directors and passed muster internally) the same was true of the lampert/esl loan/credit deals.
since these were all examined and approved, and since sears holdings has/had insurance for officers and directors to cover any liability issues, the judge would hopefully tell any disgruntled entities to take it up with the insurance company.
can't imagine judge drain would approve the esl deal and not countenance the release esl/lampert are seeking. that's why sears holdings had insurance.
finally, despite all the whining, there were NO OTHER INDICATIVE BIDS and IF the esl bid is approved by sears and recommended to the judge, the judge will then have to evaluate any objections from creditors. i still feel that may be a hard sell for them if esl's bid is qualified. regardless of how esl/lampert handle this down the road, there are some 50k jobjs hanging in the balance and those will just go away pretty much immediately if liquidation is the choice outcome.
again, even if the esl bid becomes qualified, there will not be a hearing on the matter until feb 1 (i believe that was the date for the hearing)
