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• Case | HBS Case Collection | April 2019 (Revised November 2019)

  Sears: The Demise of an American Icon

  Kristin Mugford and Sarah L. Abbott

  In 2019, ESL Investments’ $5.2 billion offer to purchase Sears Holdings out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, was accepted, despite opposition from the company's unsecured creditors and other parties. ESL, which was led by Eddie Lampert, had acquired a stake in Sears following its 2005 merger with. Kmart. Lampert was chairman and CEO. During Lampert’s ownership, Sears and Kmart shrunk their store base from 5,670 to 687 stores, and over 200,000 employees lost their jobs. Some attributed Sears’ woes to a challenging operating environment, others argued that Lampert's actions over the last decade benefitted himself and other shareholders at the expense of other Sears stakeholders. Was a sale of the company to ESL the best outcome?

  Keywords: bankruptcy; reorganization; Bonds; Restructuring; Business Divisions; Transformation; Fairness; Borrowing and Debt; Credit; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Corporate Governance; Motivation and Incentives; Retail Industry; United States;

  Citation:

  Mugford, Kristin, and Sarah L. Abbott. "Sears: The Demise of an American Icon." Harvard Business School Case 219-106, April 2019. (Revised November 2019.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | April 2018 (Revised April 2019)

  Sabine Oil & Gas Corporation

  Stuart C. Gilson, Kristin Mugford and Sarah L. Abbott

  In 2016, a trial began to determine the future of Sabine Oil & Gas Corporation’s $3 billion chapter 11 reorganization plan. The plan called for first- and second-lien-secured creditors to receive new claims representing approximately 98% of the reorganized company’s enterprise value, leaving unsecured creditors, owed $1.4 billion, to recover less than two cents on the dollar. The plan had the support of the secured creditors, but unsecured creditors were strongly opposed. At the heart of the unsecured creditors’ objections to the plan was a dramatically different view on valuation. How much were Sabine's oil and gas reserves worth today? How much were they worth at the time Sabine filed for chapter 11? And, based on these valuations, what was a fair recovery for Sabine's creditors?

  Keywords: corporate reorganization; chapter 11; oil ＆ gas; bankruptcy; bankruptcy reorganization; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Energy; Restructuring; Valuation; United States;

  Citation:

  Gilson, Stuart C., Kristin Mugford, and Sarah L. Abbott. "Sabine Oil & Gas Corporation." Harvard Business School Case 218-004, April 2018. (Revised April 2019.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | February 2019 (Revised March 2019)

  Scandal at Steinhoff

  Kristin Mugford and Phil Caruso

  Keywords: Volatility; Borrowing and Debt; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Liquidity; Bonds; Corporate Accountability; Failure; International Finance; Restructuring; Business Conglomerates; Crime and Corruption; Retail Industry; South Africa; Austria; Netherlands;

  Citation:

  Mugford, Kristin, and Phil Caruso. "Scandal at Steinhoff." Harvard Business School Case 219-098, February 2019. (Revised March 2019.)  View Details

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