Sears recently announced they will be closing over 100 stores across the country. Now it looks like they have sold the Craftsman brand to a popular tool maker.

The Sears Holding Corporation will sell the Craftsman brand for $900 million to Stanley Black & Decker Inc, and it will license back the ability to sell Craftsman branded products royal-free for 15 years after the deal's closing.

The deal gives Stanley the right to develop, manufacture, and sell Craftsman-branded products outside of Sears.

Stanley Black & Decker President and CEO James M. Loree said:

Craftsman is a legendary, American brand with tremendous consumer awareness built on a legacy of producing quality products at a great value. This agreement represents a significant opportunity to grow the market by increasing the availability of Craftsman products to consumers in previously underpenetrated channels.  We intend to invest in the brand and rapidly increase sales through these new channels, including retail, industrial, mobile and online. To accommodate the future growth of Craftsman, we intend to expand our manufacturing footprint in the U.S.  This will add jobs in the U.S., where we have increased our manufacturing headcount by 40% in the past three years

Stanley Black & Decker will pay Sears Holding $525 million at closing, $250 million at the end of year three, and annual payments on new Stanley Black & Decker Craftsman sales for the next 15 years.

Sears recently announced they are closing a long time Hudson Valley Sears store this spring.

 

More From WPDH-WPDA