| On February 7, 2003, Registrant and Sears, Roebuck and Co. ("Sears") executed (i) an Underwriting Agreement with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, Salomon Smith Barney Inc. , Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated, UBS Warburg LLC, Banc of America Securities LLC, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., RBC Dain Rauscher Inc., Lehman Brothers Inc., McDonald Investments Inc., U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc., Wachovia Securities, Inc. and Wells Fargo Investment Services, LLC as Representatives of the several Underwriters and (ii) a Pricing Agreement with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, Salomon Smith Barney Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated, UBS Warburg LLC, Banc of America Securities LLC, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., RBC Dain Rauscher Inc., Lehman Brothers Inc., McDonald Investments Inc., U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc., Wachovia Securities, Inc. and Wells Fargo Investment Services, LLC as Representatives of the several Underwriters named in Schedule I thereto relating to up to $287,500,000 aggregate principal amount of Registrant's 7.40% Notes due February 1, 2043 (the "Notes"), including $37,500,000 aggregate principal amount of the Notes that may be sold pursuant to an over allotment option granted to the Several Underwriters. A copy of the Underwriting Agreement is attached as Exhibit 1(a) and a copy of the Pricing Agreement is attached as Exhibit 1(b). On February 12, 2003 (i) Steven M. Cook, Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Acting General Counsel of Sears, delivered an opinion to Registrant and Sears, dated February 12, 2003, regarding the validity of the Notes; and (ii) Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, special counsel to Registrant and Sears, delivered an opinion to Registrant and Sears, dated February 12, 2003, as to certain United States federal tax matters concerning the Notes. A copy of the opinion as to legality is attached as Exhibit 5, and a copy of the opinion as to certain tax matters is attached as Exhibit 8. |