Sears Canada Officers Intend to Tender, Sell Shares

March 14, 2006  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in on March 2006 Sears Holdings Corp., North America's third-largest retailer, announced it has received notice that five of eight senior officers of Sears Canada will accept the Sears Holdings' offer on their common stock shares in Sears Canada and/or sell them on the market.

Those officers include David Merkley, senior vice president and chief financial officer; Rudi Vezer, senior vice president and chief legal officer; Richard Brown, senior vice president of merchandising and marketing; Frank Rocchetti, senior vice president and operations officer; and Ethel Taylor, senior vice president of corporate store sales.

Last month, a Sears Canada directors' circular disclosed that the three senior officers, who have yet to declare their intention, have recently sold a significant portion of their holdings in the company. In the 90 days prior to the announcement of Sears Holdings' offer, Brent Hollister, chief executive officer, sold approximately 54 percent of his shares; Ajit Khanna, senior vice president of direct, dealer and service sales, approximately 67 percent; and Frances Magliochi, senior vice president of human resources, more than 92 percent.

Sears Canada's largest independent shareholder, Natcan Investment Management, already has tendered all of the 9,690,149 shares that it beneficially owns or controls to the Sears Holdings offer.

"We believe that Sears Canada shareholders should consider the actions of the senior management and the largest independent shareholder when making a decision with respect to whether to tender their Sears Canada common shares," said Alan Lacy, vice chairman of Sears Holdings, in a statement issued Tuesday. "We remain committed to our (Canadian) $16.86 offer. We continue to believe that it is a full and fair price for the company and provides much needed liquidity to shareholders. We intend to purchase any and all shares tendered prior to the expiration of the offer."