Dow Jones Newswires | Sears Holdings Corp. has agreed to pay
hedge-fund operator Pershing Square C$560 million to increase its stake
in Sears Canada Inc. to 90 percent.

Meanwhile, the company projected fiscal first-quarter earnings of as
much as 31 cents a share, and said same-store sales for the period
through Wednesday were up 1.7 percent. That includes a 3.2 percent jump
at Kmart, which has seen recent strength, and a 0.3 percent increase at
the Sears brand’s domestic stores.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected earnings of 4 cents.

As for the Sears Canada deal, Sears said it is taking place as it considers the purchase “an attractive investment.”

The company has been putting money into efforts such as buybacks, leading to some criticism that it’s not spending enough to improve stores. But share buybacks have been scant this quarter at just $1 million. Sears expects to end the current quarter with about $1.8 billion of cash.

In February, Sears said its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled following big year-earlier write-downs. Sears Canada for that period had higher earnings even as revenue declined.

Shares of Sears Holdings closed at $112.89 on Thursday and were inactive premarket. The stock has doubled in the past year.