Sears gets $400M loan from CEO's hedge fund

NEW YORK - Sears (SHLD) is taking out a $400 million secured short-term loan from a hedge fund run by CEO Edward Lampert.

The Hoffman Estates, Illinois, company, which runs Sears and Kmart stores, saidin a regulatory filing that the loan is from entities affiliated with Lampert's ESL Investments Inc.

Lampert is Sears' biggest stockholder. He combined Sears and Kmart in 2005, about two years after he helped bring Kmart out of bankruptcy. But it has faced mounting pressure from rivals like Wal-Mart Stores.

The filing said that $200 million of the loan was funded on Monday and that another $200 million will be funded on Sept. 30.

Sears Holdings Corp. said that it plans to use the loan's proceeds for general corporate purposes.

The loan is set to mature on Dec. 31, but can be extended to Feb. 28, 2015.

Last month Sears reported a wider second-quarter loss compared with a year ago. Sears said it planned to do more cost cutting and close more stores than it previously announced to help turn the company around. It has also been reducing inventory and selling off assets to try to return to profitability.