The CEO of Seritage Growth Properties, once the owner of scores of former Sears and Kmart locations, is stepping down as the company nearly finishes selling off its real estate portfolio.
Andrea Olshan will exit New York-based Seritage as CEO, president and board member effective April 11, the company said Friday. Seritage's board has appointed its chairman Adam Metz as interim CEO and president. He's been an independent board member since 2022.
Olshan's departure comes as Seritage's plan to sell all its holdings comes to fruition, a strategy announced in March 2022 following a review of the company's options. Since then, Seritage's portfolio has dwindled from roughly 160 properties to 15 and it's reduced its debt by $1.3 billion.
"As a result, the company’s needs in the CEO role have been reduced, and the parties agreed that the company should change leadership at this time," Seritage said.
Olshan's departure marks the latest chapter in the saga of Sears. Seritage was spun off from the defunct department store chain a decade ago and at one time former Sears CEO Eddie Lampert served as its chairman. Roughly three years ago Seritage decided to liquidate its portfolio.
“The special committee, the board and the management team all believe that, given the diversified nature of our portfolio, pursuing multiple transactions with different potential buyers for assets or groups of assets may present the best opportunity to maximize shareholder value,” Olshan said in July 2022.
In part, Seritage aggressively marketed and sold dozens of properties — despite a challenging market — to generate proceeds toward repaying an over $1 billion loan from Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett.
In a statement on her exit, Olshan said, "Through a turbulent market, we have accomplished so much during my four years at Seritage.”
Metz lauded her success selling properties during her tenure.
"In the face of challenging market conditions, Andrea has led the effort of effectuating our plan of sale, repaying over $1.3 billion of our loan facility in the process and making important strides in streamlining our company’s operations,” he said in a statement.
Olshan came to Seritage from Olshan Properties, a private real estate firm.