Cyrus Becomes Sears Bankruptcy Lender After Cutting a Deal in Courthouse Hallway

  • New financing trims Sears borrowing costs by 150 basis points
  • The retailer snubbed previously announced Great American deal
Shoppers walk outside of a Sears Holdings Corp. store in Montebello, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018.Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
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Cyrus Capital Partners will provide Sears Holdings Corp. with a loan that will keep the bankrupt retailer’s stores open after the hedge fund won a bidding war in a courthouse hallway, according to a lawyer for Sears.

Sears had previously struck a dealBloomberg Terminal for a $350 million loan from specialty financing firm Great American Capital Partners that would have cost 11.5 percentage points over a benchmark lending rate, according to a previous court filing. But after some last-minute wrangling outside a courtroom in White Plains, New York, the company emerged with a new loan from Cyrus that will cut the company’s borrowing costs by 1.5 percentage points, company lawyer Sunny Singh said at a hearing Tuesday.