Sears creates new joint venture with The Macerich Company 

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
May 6, 2015

Sears and The Macerich Company on Thursday announced its joint venture for 9 Sears properties. This is the third joint venture that Sears entered in the month of April in order to boost the value of its stores and its finances overall.
 

Sears contributed 9 stores in Macerich malls for $150 million in cash and 50% JV interest. According to the additional terms of the agreement, the JV will lease back the stores to Sears under a triple-net master lease agreement with a ten-year initial term and two five-year renewal options worth $14.8 million. The total purchase price of the 9 stores is $300 million.
 
The JV follows Sears’ recent joint ventures with Simon Property Group Inc and JV with Seritage Growth Properties. Sears entered into the agreements with the mall companies to increase the value of its many properties.

"Since the filing of the registration statement for Seritage Growth Properties a few weeks ago, we have entered into JV agreements with the leading mall operators in the U.S., demonstrating the value of Sears Holdings' real estate portfolio," said Edward S. Lampert, Chairman and CEO of Sears Holdings. "We are pleased to be in a position to unlock substantial value for Sears Holdings shareholders and further facilitate the company's transformation.  Through these transactions, we have additional capital to invest in our membership and integrated retail platforms.  We will continue to operate these nine stores and there will be minimal impact on their day-to-day operations or the overall shopping experience for our members."
 
Arthur Coppola, Chairman and CEO of Macerich, stated, "This new joint venture with Sears Holdings is in line with our overall strategy of reinvesting capital into our portfolio of proven, highly profitable locations. The nine properties being contributed to the JV are located at centers with average in-line sales of $680 per square foot and include some of our top centers including Washington Square, Los Cerritos Center, Arrowhead Towne Center, Vintage Faire Mall, Danbury Fair Mall, Chandler Fashion Center, Freehold Raceway, Deptford Mall and South Plains Mall. Through ongoing space optimization, we expect this transaction to create significant value for shoppers, tenants and shareholders alike."   
 
Sears said in April that it would raise $2.5 billion by selling stores to a real estate trust it is setting up. Eddie Lampert, the company’s Chief Executive who controls nearly half of Sears, launched the series of transactions as well as cut costs and sold assets to turn the company around.