Dec. 10--Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has taken a stake in Sears' real estate spinoff Seritage Growth Properties.
The so-called "Oracle of Omaha" bought 2 million shares, or roughly 8 percent, of the New York-based real estate investment trust that was formed earlier this year. The REIT was developed so Sears could extract more revenue from its vast real estate holdings.
Based on Wednesday's closing stock price, Buffett's stake is worth $70.5 million.
Sears plans to sell and lease back about 235 properties, most of them Sears and Kmart stores, to the REIT, raising roughly $2.6 billion in proceeds.
Seritage shares soared nearly 16 percent to $40.82 percent in morning trading. Shares of Sears Holding were up more than 3 percent Thursday morning, to about $21.40 a share.
crshropshire@tribpub.com
