Sears’ REIT Goes Public as Others Consider Similar Moves

Seritage Growth Properties, the real estate spinoff of Sears Holdings Corp., made its debut Monday on the New York Stock Exchange and estimated that it raised about $1.6 billion from the offering. Sears, which is dealing with slumping retail sales, formed the real estate investment trust to extract more revenue from its properties. It plans to sell and lease back about 235 properties, most of them Sears and Kmart stores, to the REIT. Sears expects to raise $2.6 billion in proceeds from the REIT buying those properties.