Sears picks liquidator should rescue talks fail: Report
If the talks to rescue bankrupt Sears fall through, liquidation is expected to be the next step.
A liquidator is ready to step in to shut down the 126-year-old department store chain, according to Reuters.
Sears has lined up Closter, New Jersey-based Abacus Advisory Group to take on the project.
Abacus would be responsible for selling the chain’s inventories of tools, appliances and store fixtures if negotiations with Chairman Edward Lampert over his $4.4 billion takeover bid fail, according to people familiar with the situation.
Lampert is biding through an affiliate of his hedge fund, ESL Investments, but has reportedly fallen short.
The billionaire and Sears are racing to resolve the bid's sticking points before a Tuesday court date.
Negotiations dragged past a Friday deadline.
If successful, the bid would preserve 425 Sears stores and up to 50,000 jobs across the United States, according to a letter that Sears received on Dec. 28.
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A liquidation would put roughly 68,000 people out of work.
Abacus has a 16-year history with Sears, after liquidating more than 800 stores for the once-mighty chain since 2002.
Abacus has worked on several liquidations, including Filene's Basement and Service Merchandise Corp, according to its website.
Sears and Alan Cohen, chairman of Abacus, declined to comment.