Bankers meeting to discuss financing for Sears Holdings Corp.’s impending bankruptcy erupted in disbelief when a headline crossed their smartphone screens. Its subject: them.
A breaking news report said the bankers, gathered Oct. 11 at the Manhattan offices of law firm Weil Gotshal & Manges, were pushing to liquidate the American retail icon instead of saving it with a new loan. The implications were clear, according to people familiar with the meeting: Keep Sears alive, or you’ll be publicly blamed for the 50,000 job losses that would come with its demise.
