Sears' Hometown spinoff rises in debut

[October 13, 2012]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Sears Holdings Corp.'s spinoff of its Hometown and Outlet Stores are rising on their debut trading day.

The Hoffman Estates, Ill., company, which runs Kmart and Sears stores, had signaled in February that it would split off Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores Inc. as a separate publicly traded entity.

The parent company received $446.5 million in gross proceeds. This included a cash dividend of $100 million paid by Sears Hometown before the spinoff and $346.5 million in proceeds from a rights offering.

Sears Holdings' Sears Hometown, which is trading on the Nasdaq on Friday under the "SHOS" ticker symbol, rose $1.71 to $30.71 from the premarket price of $29 by early afternoon.

Sears Holdings will continue to trade on the Nasdaq under the "SHLD" ticker symbol. Shares of Sears slipped more than 1 percent, or 90 cents, to $60 per share.

After the spinoff, Sears Holding has more than 2,600 stores in the U.S. and Canada.

[Associated Press]

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