Sears sells DieHard brand to Advance Auto for $200 million

NEW YORK (AP) — Sears said Monday that it sold the DieHard car battery brand to Advance Auto Parts for $200 million, as the struggling retailer seeks to raise cash.

Sears will still be able to sell DieHard goods in its stores. And it will still be able to create products for the brand as long as they are not auto-related, like the DieHard boots it currently sells.

Advance Auto Parts said it will sell DieHard auto batteries in its more than 4,800 stores and plans to expand it into batteries for other types of vehicles.

DieHard was created by Sears in 1967, one of the many brands it launched through its more than 130 years in business. But as the company fell on hard times, it’s been shedding some of its famous names to raise cash. In 2017, Sears sold its 90-year-old Craftsman tool brand to Stanley Black & Decker Inc.

Sears, which had 4,000 stores at its peak, went bankrupt last year and is now owned by Transform Holdco. By early next year, it will operate fewer than 200 stores.