Standard & Poors is removing Sears Holdings Corp. from the S&P 500 Index at the close of trading Sept. 4 and will replace it with chemical and polymer maker LyondellBasell Industries NV.
S&P said the move was made because “Sears' public float has been well below the 50 percent threshold for inclusion for an extended period of time and is no longer considered representative of the index.”
Private hedge fund ESL Investments Inc. and its manager Edward Lampert own a total of 65.7 million, or nearly 62 percent, of Sears' 106.4 million outstanding shares, according to FactSet.
Sears, Roebuck & Co. was one of the original members of the S&P 500 when the index was created in 1957. Sears, Roebuck & Co. was originally added to the Dow Industrials Index in January 1920 and was part of the index for nearly 76 years until it was removed in November 1999.
Sears Holdings offered that the move by S&P was a result of the public float level and not a valuation of the company's performance, noting in a statement that S&P had recently raised the retailer's credit rating outlook to stable from negative.
S&P on Aug. 17 raised the rating outlook while affirming its CCC+, or junk, rating on Sears Holdings.
