Sears' Hometown spinoff edges lower in debut

NEW YORK -- Shares of Sears Holdings Corp.'s spinoff of its Hometown and Outlet Stores are declining on its debut trading day.

The Hoffman Estates, Ill., company, which runs Kmart and Sears stores, had signaled in February that it would split off Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores Inc. as a separate publicly traded entity.

The parent company received $446.5 million in gross proceeds. This included a cash dividend of $100 million paid by Sears Hometown before the spinoff and $346.5 million in proceeds from a rights offering.

Sears Holdings' Sears Hometown, which is trading on the Nasdaq on Friday under the "SHOS" ticker symbol, slipped 32 cents, or more than 1 percent, to $30.68 by midday.

Sears Holdings will continue to trade on the Nasdaq under the "SHLD" ticker symbol. Shares of Sears were down 70 cents, or a little over 1 percent, to $60.22.

After the spinoff, Sears Holding has more than 2,600 stores in the U.S. and Canada.