Ace Hardware Corporation and Centerbridge Partners, L.P. are planning to buy Sears Holdings Corporation (OTCPK:SHLD.Q) home service unit. Wednesday is the deadline for initial offers in a bankruptcy auction for the home services business and other Sears assets, according to a November letter from the company’s bankers to prospective bidders. The group eyeing the home services division has studied a possible bid for weeks, though there is no guarantee an offer will materialize, the sources said. Sears is also negotiating with Lampert’s hedge fund, ESL Investments Inc, on a potential deal to acquire stores and businesses. The sources did not give a value for a potential offer from Centerbridge and Ace. A Sears spokesman declined to comment. An Ace representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment and a Centerbridge spokesman declined to comment.