With the clock ticking down on a deadline to make a bid to save storied retailer Sears from liquidation, Sears Holdings Chairman Eddie Lampert made an offer on Friday to buy the company out of bankruptcy for $4.4 billion and keep more than 400 retail locations open. The proposal, made through an affiliate of Lampert’s hedge fund ESL Investments, Transform Holdco LLC, includes a $1.3 billion financing commitment from three financial institutions according to a statement from the company cited by numerous media outlets. 

“Our going concern bid provides the best path forward for the company, the best option to save tens of thousands of jobs and is superior for all of Sears’ stakeholders to the alternative of a complete liquidation,’’ ESL's statement said.

Meanwhile, according to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, Sears has received two liquidation bids: One was a joint bid from Tiger Capital Group LLC and Great American Group LLC, and another came from the team of Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC and Hilco Global Merchant Resources LLC, the Journal said.