Seritage Growth Properties, a national owner and developer of residential, retail and mixed-use properties that was spun off from Sears in 2015, announced that its board of trustees is reviewing strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value.
“The board and management believe that there is an ongoing disconnect between the company’s stock price and net asset value. The portfolio, which consists of 170 properties with distinct and diverse business plans and significant value creation opportunities, generally falls into the categories of cash flowing multitenant retail and triple net pad sites, residential development land and large, mixed-use, master-planned developments,” Andrea Olshan, the company’s president and CEO, said. “The opportunities for these underlying assets are extremely strong, and we believe that embarking on this process represents the most efficient way to unlock the full potential of this portfolio. We are committed to exploring a variety of opportunities to pull forward this value and deliver it to Seritage shareholders in the near-term.”
Seritage was founded to unlock the underlying value of a retail real estate portfolio acquired from Sears Holdings in July 2015. Seritage Board Chairman (and former Sears Holdings Chairman) Edward Lampert has retired from the board.
“I encourage and support the Board’s efforts to explore and pursue strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value,” Lampert said. “I have decided to retire to allow additional time to focus on my other investments and to provide me with greater flexibility to explore alternatives for my investment in Seritage, which could include participating with parties that may be interested in acquiring certain of the company’s assets and trading shares in open market transactions.
The board has created a Special Committee of its board of trustees to oversee the process. The committee has retained Barclays as its financial advisor.
