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Sears and Centro JV? The End of Kmart?

There has been some of this floating around as if it is something new so I decided to look at the SEC filings for Centro (CNP) , formerly New Plan Excel Realty Trust for more information.

The rumor was this venture was formed in October to perhaps finish off the Kmart chain for Sears Holdings (SHLD). Like the other rumors (Sears going private), not so fast.

5/5/2008 10-Q
“NPK Redevelopment I, LLC. The Company has a joint venture with Kmart Corporation (Sears Holding Corp.) pursuant to which the joint venture will redevelop three Kmart Supercenter properties formerly owned by Kmart. Under the terms of this joint venture, the Company has agreed to contribute $6.0 million which had been fully contributed as of March 31, 2008. After the Company’s contribution of the total committed amount, the Company had a 20% interest in the venture and is responsible for contributing its pro rata share of any additional capital that might be required by the joint venture; however, the Company does not expect that any significant capital contributions will be required. The joint venture had no loans outstanding as of March 31, 2008. As of March 31, 2008, the book value of our investment in NPK Redevelopment I, LLC was approximately $10.7 million.”


The 2008 filing

“NPK Redevelopment I, LLC. We have a joint venture with Kmart Corporation (Sears Holding Corp.) pursuant to which the joint venture will redevelop three Kmart Supercenter properties formerly owned by Kmart. Under the terms of this joint venture, we have agreed to contribute $6.0 million which had been fully contributed as of December 31, 2007. We will have a 20% interest in the venture and are responsible for contributing our pro rata share of any additional capital that might be required by the joint venture; however, we do not expect that any significant capital contributions will be required. The joint venture had no loans outstanding as of December 31, 2007. As of December 31, 2007, the book value of our investment in NPK Redevelopment I, LLC was approximately $9.5 million.”

2007 Filing:
“NPK Redevelopment I, LLC. We have a joint venture with Kmart Corporation (Sears Holding Corp.) pursuant to which the joint venture will redevelop three Kmart Supercenter properties formerly owned by Kmart. Under the terms of this joint venture, we have agreed to contribute $6.0 million, $3.6 million of which we have contributed as of December 31, 2006. After our contribution of the total committed amount, we will have a 20% interest in the venture and will be responsible for contributing our pro rata share of any additional capital that might be required by the joint venture; however, we do not expect that any significant capital contributions will be required. The joint venture had no loans outstanding as of December 31, 2006. As of December 31, 2006, the book value of our investment in NPK Redevelopment I, LLC was approximately $3.6 million.”

2006 Filing:
“NPK Redevelopment I, LLC. We have a joint venture with Kmart Corporation (Sears Holding Corp.) pursuant to which the joint venture will redevelop three Kmart Supercenter properties formerly owned by Kmart. Under the terms of this joint venture, we have agreed to contribute $6.0 million, of which $1.0 million had been contributed by us as of December 31, 2005. After our contribution of the total committed amount, we will have a 20% interest in the venture and be responsible for contributing our pro rata share of any additional capital that might be required by the joint venture. The joint venture had no loans outstanding as of December 31, 2005. As of December 31, 2005, the book value of our investment in NPK Redevelopment I, LLC was approximately $1.0 million.”

The 2006 filing for FY 2005 is the first mention of the JV. Note the number of Kmart’s affected (3) has not changed.

What is interesting is that they have marked the investment over 50% higher than their cost as of 12/31/2007 and 76% higher on 3/31/2008. In other years, they marked it at their cost. No further details were given.

One can only assume Sears is seeing the same return?

Todd Sullivan's- ValuePlays

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2 replies on “Sears and Centro JV? The End of Kmart?”

hey todd,

are you buying more sears here? i think you said a while ago that if SHLD fell to around 75, you would buy more… you’re still long SHLD, right? what do you think? would it be good for an investor to buy SHLD here?

“Do not just give a gift, grant a wish”. Know this slogan? Yeh! It is Sears!!!!!! Clothes, footwear, tools, electronics, jewelry, beauty products, appliances, furniture, and bedding – everything is there! But the company has lots of drawbacks as well. All the dissatisfaction with the services and products are on http://www.pissedconsumer.com. There you can post your complaints to share with others.

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