Sears Holdings Corp. extended the terms of a $400 million loan while announcing a new planned borrowing to cover pension contributions, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based retailer entered into an agreement with “new and existing lenders” to delay the maturity of its term loan to January 2019 from June 2018, with an option to further extend the maturity date by another six months, according to a securities filing yesterday. Sears had paid down the loan by $325 million in the fourth quarter. Despite frequent predictions from short sellers of the company’s demise, the loan extension suggests that investors haven’t lost hope that Sears can stanch a persistent cash burn and weather a downturn in brick-and-mortar shopping nationwide. Sears also said it intended to obtain a new credit facility of up to $607 million backed by real estate properties to fund a $407 million pension payment and for other purposes. The pension contribution was required under a recent deal that released certain Sears properties from the grasp of the U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.
