More than 50 years ago, Sears launched DieHard, an auto battery designed with extra starting power and a reputation for performance and durability under difficult conditions.
On Monday, the retailer's parent company announced the sale of DieHard to Advance Auto Parts for $200 million, in a deal that provides cash for a company having its own difficulties.
Under the all-cash transaction announced Monday, Transformco, the parent company led by Edward Lampert that owns Sears and Kmart, still will have rights to sell DieHard products under a supply agreement with Advance Auto Parts.
The deal also includes an "exclusive royalty-free, perpetual license" that would give the retailer permission to develop and market DieHard items outside of automotive categories.
After coming out of bankruptcy earlier this year, the Hoffman Estates-based retailer has struggled. The company has announced hundreds of layoffs and plans to close about a third of its remaining stores.
Sears launched DieHard in 1967, after spending nine years and more than $1 million on its development.
The line of products currently sold under the name include DieHard-brand battery chargers, jump starters, flashlights, alkaline batteries, work boots and tires.
Sears going back to the future to win shoppers back after bankruptcy �
It's not the first time the retailer has sold one of its iconic brands. In 2017, Sears sold its Craftsman tool line in a deal valued at $900 million to Stanley Black & Decker. Sears can still make and sell Craftsman products under the agreement.
But both companies have sparred over the brand. Stanley filed a lawsuit in March asking the courts to stop Sears from marketing itself as "the real home of the broadest assortment of Craftsman."
Advance Auto Parts will replace its private label battery AutoCraft with DieHard batteries. The Raleigh, North Carolina-based company plans to sell batteries in more than 6,000 locations including at its own stores, its Carquest subsidiary and on Walmart's website, spokesman Darryl Carr said.
