Coronavirus Corporate Bankruptcy Filings
- By John Brooke
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- 22 Jun, 2020
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Here is a list of major companies that filed bankruptcy due to the lockdown
Some of the biggest names in corporate America are in danger of going the way of Sears, Blockbuster and RadioShack.
The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the demise of companies that were already in trouble as Americans (and their dollars) stay home amid lockdowns and economic shutdowns. Oil and gas drillers like Whiting Petroleum and Diamond Offshore filed for bankruptcy in late April, and J.Crew became the first major U.S. retailer to do the same on May 4. More are on the way.
“It has been a poorly-kept secret that a number of the big-box retailers were struggling,” says Scott Williams, a bankruptcy attorney at RumbergerKirk. “There has not been a dramatic uptick in the last 45 days. What I think you’ve seen is lots of people being forced into, ‘I’m going to get there at some point.’”
Bankruptcy isn’t a death sentence. Companies that file Chapter 11 bankruptcy negotiate with creditors to restructure debt terms. (Those that file Chapter 7 are typically liquidating assets and calling it quits.) General Motors went insolvent during the last financial crisis in 2009 and regained its footing and profitability as America’s largest automaker. Delta, United and American Airlines have all endured bankruptcy reorganizations in the last two decades.
Here are the major companies with at least 500 employees that have filed for bankruptcy in 2020. This list will be updated as more join the group:
24 Hour Fitness filed on June 15 and announced that it will permanently close more than 100 of its roughly 400 gyms, citing the “disproportionate impact” of the coronavirus pandemic on the fitness industry.
Advantage Rent A Car filed on May 26, four days after its competitor Hertz, with global travel still ground to a halt.
Illinois-based pharmaceutical company Akorn filed on May 20, two years after Fresenius backed out of a planned $4.3 billion takeover over quality control concerns.
The ALDO Group, a Montreal-based shoe retailer that operates about 3,000 locations in more than 100 countries, filed on May 7 under pressure from store closures.
Private-equity-backed APC Automotive filed on June 3. Demand for auto parts has sunk during the pandemic and import tariffs on metals have cut into its margins as well.
Apex Parks Group, which had to close its 12 entertainment centers and water parks due to the pandemic, filed for a Chapter 11 reorganization on April 8.
Art Van Furniture, a midwestern retailer with 176 locations, filed on March 8. As the economic crisis worsened, it converted its Chapter 11 reorganization to a Chapter 7 liquidation in early April.
Avianca, which served more than 30 million passengers last year as one of Latin America’s largest airlines, filed on May 10 with all of its passenger flights grounded since mid-March due to Covid-19.
Bar Louie, a nationwide gastropub chain, filed on January 27 after closing 38 of its locations, leaving less than 100 remaining.
Bluestem Brands, the parent company of seven e-commerce subsidiaries, filed on March 9.
Borden Dairy followed competitor Dean Foods DF into bankruptcy on January 5, aiming to reduce its debt load while continuing normal operations.
British rent-to-own operation BrightHouse entered administration—the equivalent of a bankruptcy process—on March 30, immediately halting all new rent-to-own and cash loan lending activities.
U.K.-based Italian restaurant chain Carluccio’s entered administration on March 30, shortly after its 73 locations were required to close.
Centric Brands, an apparel manufacturer that licenses its clothing to designer brands like Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, filed on May 18. It aims to reduce its debt by $700 million and continue normal operations.
CMX Cinemas, a movie theater chain that also owns dine-in restaurants and bars, filed on April 25 with all 41 of its theaters closed nationwide during the pandemic.
Trucking conglomerate Comcar Industries filed on May 17 and announced it was selling its five operating companies.
Fast casual restaurant chain Cosi filed for Chapter 11 on February 24 for the second time since 2016 after shuttering 30 of its locations in December.
Restaurant franchisor CraftWorks filed on March 3 to reduce its debt by more than $140 million shortly after closing about 10% of its locations.
Dean & DeLuca, a luxury grocery store chain with 42 locations until it started downsizing in recent years, filed on April 1.
British fashion retailer Debenhams, which employs more than 20,000 people, entered administration on April 6 for the second time in the last year as it struggled to stay afloat with its stores closed. It is liquidating its business in Ireland, permanently closing its 11 stores there.
Diamond Offshore Drilling sought bankruptcy protection on April 27 after skipping a payment to bondholders. It had billions of dollars of debt even before oil prices plunged in recent weeks.
Jamaica-based telecom provider Digicel filed for Chapter 15, which allows foreign creditors to participate cases, on May 15.
Earth Fare, a North Carolina-based organic grocery chain, filed on February 4, a day after announcing it was closing all of its stores and liquidating its inventory.
South African retailer Edcon filed for business rescue on April 29, announcing that it had lost 2 billion rand in sales—equivalent to more than $100 million—due to coronavirus.
Industrial battery maker Exide Technologies, based in Georgia with more than 8,000 employees in 80 countries, filed on May 22 and agreed to sell its businesses in Europe and Asia.
Tri-state grocery chain Fairway Market filed on January 23 and announced it was selling up to five New York City stores and its distribution center to Village Super Market for $70 million.
British airline Flybe, one of Europe’s largest regional carriers, entered administration and grounded all flights on March 5.
Foodora, a food delivery app that is a subsidiary of Berlin-based Delivery Hero, filed for insolvency in Canada on April 27 and announced it’s ceasing operations in the country on May 11.
St. Louis-based coal miner Foresight Energy filed on March 10 with $1.4 billion in debt.
Frontier Communications FTR, one of America’s largest telecom companies, filed on April 14. Its reorganization plan is expected to reduce its sizable debt load by $10 billion.
Gold’s Gym filed on May 4 after having to close its 700 fitness centers due to coronavirus lockdowns. Thirty gyms will remain permanently closed.
Helios and Matheson, the parent of movie-theater subscription service MoviePass, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on January 29. MoviePass had more than 3 million subscribers at its peak in 2018.
Car rental company Hertz filed on May 22 with nearly $18 billion in net debt on its balance sheet and coronavirus crushing business travel and tourism. It laid off 10,000 of its North American employees in April.
Singapore-based oil trader Hin Leong, founded by ex-billionaire Lim Oon Kuin, filed on April 18 as the company revealed it had $800 million in previously undisclosed losses.
Hornbeck Offshore Services, which operates a fleet of offshore oil supply ships in the Gulf of Mexico and Latin America, filed a prepackaged plan on May 19. Its shares peaked at about $60 in 2013, but have traded below $1 since July of last year.
IntegraMed America, which offers nearly 100 medical facilities and fertility centers in the U.S. services like egg freezing, filed on May 20.
Intelsat filed on May 13, though it said it will continue to launch new satellites. The pioneering company put the first commercial communications satellite in space in 1965.
Virginia-based cloud services provider Internap filed on March 16 to renegotiate its debt. It was delisted from the Nasdaq the next week.
JCPenney filed on May 15, weighed down by $4.2 billion in debt. The prominent department store chain has lost money for nine straight years, and its troubles were exacerbated by the pandemic that forced its 850 remaining locations to close.
J.Crew was the first big American retail domino to fall amid the pandemic, filing on May 4 to convert about $1.7 billion of debt to equity. It still plans to reopen its 181 J.Crew stores, 170 factory stores and 140 stores for its women’s clothing brand Madewell after coronavirus-related restrictions are lifted.
J.Hilburn, a Dallas-based luxury menswear retailer rooted in one-on-one contact with customers for its custom-made suits and shirts, filed on May 4.
Southeast burger chain Krystal filed on January 19, citing debts of between $50 million and $100 million.
Latam Airlines became the largest carrier yet to go bankrupt when it filed on May 26 with the pandemic suffocating demand, though it will continue operating its limited passenger and cargo stats as scheduled.
Le Pain Quotidien’s U.S. arm, PQ New York, filed on May 27 and announced plans to be sold to restaurant conglomerate Aurify Brands, which will keep 35 of its 98 bakeries in the U.S. open.
Libbey, an Ohio-based glass tableware manufacturer for restaurants and bars that no longer needed new drinking glasses while they were closed, filed on June 1.
Mexican energy company Libre Abordo announced it was bankrupt on May 31 after oil prices collapsed this spring.
Commercial magazine printer LSC Communications filed on April 13 with nearly $1 billion in debt after an antitrust lawsuit blocked an attempted $1.4 billion sale to competitor Quad/Graphics QUAD last year.
Organic grocer Lucky’s Market filed on January 27 and plans to sell most of its stores to Aldi, Publix and other winning bidders.
Pharmaceutical manufacturer Mallinckrodt submitted a Chapter 11 filing for its specialty generics unit on February 25 and offered to pay a $1.6 billion settlement under the weight of lawsuits related to opioid abuse.
McClatchy, which operates 30 newspapers in 14 states, filed on February 13, ending 163 years of family control of the business and signaling the continuing erosion of local news.
McDermott International, a commercial construction and engineering company, initiated a Chapter 11 process on January 21 to eliminate $4.6 billion in debt.
Modell’s Sporting Goods, a New York institution since 1889, filed for Chapter 11 on March 11 and announced plans to close all 153 of its stores spread throughout the northeast.
Swedish fashion retail chain MQ filed on April 16 as sales plunged at its physical locations while customers stayed home due to the pandemic.
Neiman Marcus filed on May 7, seeking to eliminate $4 billion in debt. The renowned luxury retailer has 43 Neiman Marcus locations as well as 22 stores for its Last Call discount brand and two Manhattan Bergdorf Goodman stores. Business at all of them has been upended by coronavirus shutdowns.
NMC Healthcare, a large hospital operator in the United Arab Emirates, filed for Chapter 15 in the U.S. on May 28 after revealing in March that it had under-reported its debt by $2.7 billion.
Clothing conglomerate Nygard Entities filed for Chapter 15 on March 19. The company was under fire after a class-action lawsuit filed in February levied sex-trafficking allegations against founder Peter Nygard.
OneWeb, a satellite internet startup backed by SoftBank that launched 74 satellites into space, filed on March 27.
Upscale stationary chain Papyrus’ parent company filed on January 24 and closed all 254 of its stores.
Pier 1, a home furniture chain with close to 1,000 locations at the beginning of the store, began a Chapter 11 reorganization on February 17, before the weight of the pandemic even reached the U.S. Shares were trading at more than $460 in 2013 before beginning a steep and steady decline.
San Antonio-based oil and gas servicer Pioneer Energy filed on March 2, though it is continuing operations.
Rural hospital chain Quorum Health filed a prepackaged chapter 11 plan on April 7 to reduce its debt by $500 million.
RavnAir, an intrastate airline in Alaska, ceased operations and laid off all staff when it filed for bankruptcy on April 5.
Reitmans, a prominent Canadian fashion retailer with 576 stores, began a restructuring process on May 19.
RentPath, an online search platform for rental homes, filed on February 11 while at the same time announcing it was being bought out of bankruptcy by competitor CoStar Group CSGP for $588 million.
Rubie’s Costume Company, the world’s largest Halloween costume manufacturer, filed on April 30 as sales declined while its retail customers are closed due to Covid-19.
Canadian retail superstore Sail Outdoors filed on June 2. It reopened its 14 locations in Quebec and Ontario in May after weeks of coronavirus-related closures.
Skillsoft, a corporate e-learning and talent development servicer, filed on June 14 to reduce its debt to $410 million from about $2 billion.
New Zealand furniture and appliance retailer Smiths City entered receivership on May 21 to expedite its sale to Polar Capital.
Specialist Leisure Group, a British company with 44 hotel and travel brands like Shearings, a century-old tour bus operator, entered administration on May 22 and cut 2,460 jobs. Only 70 employees remained to wind down the business.
Canadian auto parts manufacturer Spectra Premium filed on March 10. In a press release, the company complained that efforts to cut supply chain costs were hampered by tariffs the U.S. imposed on China.
Speedcast International, a satellite internet company that provides connectivity to the embattled cruise industry when ships are out at sea and serves 80% of cruise brands globally, filed on April 23.
Discount retailer Stage Stores, which owns brands like Gordmans and Bealls, filed on May 10 and will begin to liquidate its inventory when 557 of its stores reopen from coronavirus shutdowns on May 15.
Wisconsin-based auto parts and plastics manufacturer Techniplas filed on May 6 as it hopes to find a buyer.
True Religion, a designer jeans retailer with locations of its own in 26 states and a presence in other major department stores, filed on April 13 for the second time in less than three years.
Discount retailer Tuesday Morning filed on May 27 and expects to close about 230 of its 687 stores nationwide. In the first phase of its reorganization, it will close at least 132 locations and its Phoenix distribution center.
Oklahoma shale driller Unit Corporation filed on May 22 during the global commodity price crunch, aiming to reduce its debt by $650 million.
Virgin Australia, one of Australia’s largest airlines co-founded by billionaire Richard Branson, filed on April 21 after the Australian government denied the company’s pleas for a bailout.
Vision Group Holdings, which pversees two Lasik eye surgery providers, filed on May 30 with demand for elective surgeries all but disappearing.
Whiting Petroleum filed on April 1, though it said it would continue to operate its business. Shares of the publicly-traded shale driller dipped below $1 in March after trading at more than $150 in 2015.
Article credit of Forbes.com
With genetic testing company 23andMe filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and courting bidders, the DNA data of millions of users is up for sale.
A Silicon Valley stalwart since 2006, 23andMe has steadily amassed a database of people’s fundamental genetic information under the promise of helping them understand their disposition to diseases and potentially connecting with relatives.
But the company’s bankruptcy filing Sunday means information is set to be sold, causing massive worry among privacy experts and advocates.
“Folks have absolutely no say in where their data is going to go,” said Tazin Kahn, CEO of the nonprofit Cyber Collective, which advocates for privacy rights and cybersecurity for marginalized people.
“How can we be so sure that the downstream impact of whoever purchases this data will not be catastrophic?” she said.
A spokesperson for 23andMe said in an emailed statement that there will be no change to how the company stores customers’ data and that it plans to follow all relevant U.S. laws.
But Andrew Crawford, an attorney at the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology, said genetic data lawfully acquired and held by a tech company has almost no federal regulation to begin with.
Not only does the United States not have a meaningful general digital privacy law, he said, but Americans’ medical data faces less legal scrutiny if it’s held by a tech company rather than by a medical professional.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which regulates some ways in which health data can be shared and stored in the United States, largely applies only “when that data is held by your doctor, your insurance company, folks kind of associated with the provision of health care,” Crawford said.
“HIPAA protections don’t typically attach to entities that have IOT [internet of things] devices like fitness trackers and in many cases the genetic testing companies like 23andMe,” he said.
There is precedent for 23andMe’s losing control of users’ data.
In 2023, a hacker gained access to the data of what the company later admitted were around 6.9 million people, almost half of its user base at the time.
Article credited from NBC News
Restaurant chain Hooters of America filed for bankruptcy in Texas on Monday, seeking to address its $376 million debt by selling all of its company-owned restaurants to a franchise group backed by the company’s founders.
Hooters, like other casual dining restaurants, has struggled in recent years due to inflation, the high costs of labor and food, and declining spending by cash-strapped American consumers. The company currently directly owns and operates 151 locations, with another 154 restaurants operated by franchisees, primarily in the United States.
The privately-owned company, which shares a private equity owner with recently-bankrupt TGI Fridays, intends to sell all corporate-owned locations to a buyer group comprised of two existing Hooters franchisees, who operate 30 high-performing Hooters locations in the U.S., mainly in Florida and Illinois.
Hooters did not disclose the purchase price of the transaction, which must be approved by a U.S. bankruptcy judge before it becomes final.
Founded in 1983, Hooters became famous for its chicken wings and its servers’ uniform of orange shorts and low-cut tank tops.
The buyer group is backed by some of Hooters’ original founders, and it pledged to take Hooters “back to its roots.”
“With over 30 years of hands-on experience across the Hooters ecosystem, we have a profound understanding of our customers and what it takes to not only meet, but consistently exceed their expectations,” said Neil Kiefer, a member of the buyer group and the current CEO of the original Hooters’ location in Clearwater, Florida.
Hooters said it expects to complete the deal and emerge from bankruptcy in three to four months. The company has lined up about $35 million in financing from its existing lender group to complete the bankruptcy transaction.
Casual dining restaurants have been hammered by rising costs in 2024, with well-known chains like TGI Fridays, Red Lobster, Bucca di Beppo, and Rubio’s Coastal Grill all filing for bankruptcy last year.
Restaurant prices have risen about 30% in the last 5 years, outpacing consumer prices overall, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Article credited from Reuters.com
Struggling fabric and crafts seller Joann plans to close about 500 of its stores across the U.S. — or more than half of its current nationwide footprint.
The move, announced Wednesday, arrives amid a tumultuous time for Joann. Last month, the Hudson, Ohio-based retailer f iled for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time within a year, with the company pointing to issues like sluggish consumer demand and inventory shortages.
Joann previously sought Chapter 11 in March 2024 and later emerged as a private company. But after operational challenges continued to pile up, Joann filed for bankruptcy again in January. It’s now looking to sell the business — and maintained in a filing Wednesday that closing “underperforming” locations is necessary to complete that process.
“This was a very difficult decision to make, given the major impact we know it will have on our Team Members, our customers and all of the communities we serve,” the company said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. “(But) right-sizing our store footprint is a critical part of our efforts to ensure the best path forward.”
Joann currently operates around 800 stores across 49 states. The initial list of the roughly 500 locations it’s looking to close can be found on the company’s restructuring website — spanning states including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and more.
When exactly those closures will take place and how many employees will be impacted has yet to be seen. Joann’s Wednesday motion seeks court permission to begin the process.
Joann’s roots date back to 1943, with a single storefront in Cleveland, Ohio. And the retailer later grew into a national chain. Formerly known as Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, the company rebranded itself with the shortened “Joann” name for its 75th anniversary.
Both of Joann’s bankruptcy filings seen over the last year arrived amid some slowdowns in discretionary spending — notably with consumers taking a step back from at-home crafts, at least relative to the early COVID-19 pandemic boom. Joann has also faced rising competition in the crafts space from rivals like Hobby Lobby, as well as from larger retailers, like Target, who now offer ample art supplies and kits.
And, while Joann turned to implementing a new business plan after emerging from bankruptcy last spring, “unanticipated inventory challenges post-emergence, coupled with the prolonged impact of an excessively sluggish retail economy, put (Joann) back into an untenable debt position,” interim CEO Michael Prendergast noted in a sworn court declaration filed when Joann initiated its latest Chapter 11 proceedings on Jan. 15.
Prendergast explained that inventory shortages had significant ripple effects on Joann’s core business, particularly when “in-stock levels eventually dropped by upwards of 10%" and led to a “new phase of operational distress.”
Citing these and other macroeconomic challenges seen in the retail space over recent years, Joann has maintained that a sale of the business is the best path forward. The company says it has a proposed “stalking horse” bid agreement with Gordon Brothers Retail Partners.
Article credited online at Reuters.com
Article credited from Reuters.com
Party City is closing down all of its stores, ending nearly 40 years in business.
CEO Barry Litwin told corporate employees Friday in a meeting that Party City is "winding down" operations immediately and that today will be their last day of employment.
"That is without question the most difficult message that I've ever had to deliver," Litwin said at the meeting, which was held on a video conference call. Party City's "very best efforts have not been enough to overcome" its financial challenges, he added, resulting in the company's collapse.
"It's really important for you to know that we've done everything possible that we could to try to avoid this outcome," Litwin said. "Unfortunately, it's necessary to commence a winddown process immediately."
The chain is the largest party supply store in the United States and recently exited bankruptcy in September 2023. That plan included the canceling of nearly $1 billion in debt, the dissolution of its stock and a majority of its 800 US stores staying open.
Though in the short term Party City managed to avoid the same fate as Bed Bath & Beyond and 99 Cents Only Stores, it still had more than $800 million in debt to overcome, which strained earnings this year.
The company had closed more than 80 stores from the end of 2022 to August 2024, according to its most recent financial documents.
Party City said in a previous statement that it had renegotiated many of its leases and exited "less productive locations," which resulted in many of chain's workers remaining employed. The company had approximately 6,400 full-time and 10,100 part-time workers as of 2021.
Party City filed for bankruptcy in January 2023 after struggling to pay off its $1.7 billion debt load. As a result, it was also delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.
Net sales for Party City decreased to $407 million for the three months ending in September 2023, compared to $502 million in the same period in 2022, according to the company's latest financial disclosures.
The company, which sells balloons, Halloween costumes and other party goods, has stumbled in the face of growing competition from e-commerce sites and pop-up concepts like Spirit Halloween. Competition from big-box retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Costco and others also crushed smaller chains.
It also had to contend with rising costs during the pandemic and a helium shortage, which hurt its crucial balloon business.
The chain joins a growing list of retailer bankruptcies this year as customers cut back on discretionary spending amid the rising cost of living. Notably, Big Lots announced Thursday it was starting "going out of business" sales at all of its locations after a plan for a private equity firm to rescue the bankruptcy retailer failed.
Story credited by CNN.
The satirical news publication The Onion was named the winning bidder for Alex Jones' Infowars at a bankruptcy auction Thursday, backed by families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims whom Jones owes more than $1 billion in defamation judgments for calling the massacre a hoax.
The purchase would turn over Jones’ company, which for decades has peddled in conspiracy and misinformation, to a humor website that plans to relaunch the Infowars platform in January as a parody. But the judge in Jones’ bankruptcy case said Thursday that he had concerns about how the auction was conducted and ordered a hearing for next week after complaints by lawyers for Jones and a company affiliated with Jones that put in a $3.5 million bid.
Within hours of the announcement about The Onion's winning bid, Infowars’ website was down and Jones was broadcasting from what he said was a new studio location. Up for sale were Infowars’ website; social media accounts; studio in Austin, Texas; trademarks; video archive; and other assets.
“The dissolution of Alex Jones’ assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long awaited and fought for,” Robbie Parker, whose daughter Emilie was killed in the 2012 shooting in Connecticut, said in a statement provided by his lawyers.
The satirical outlet — which carries the banner of “America’s Finest News Source” on its masthead — was founded in the 1980s and for decades has skewered politics and pop culture, including making Jones a frequent target of mocking articles. Mass shootings in the U.S., such as the Sandy Hook attack, are often followed by The Onion publishing slightly updated versions of one of its most well-known recurring pieces: "'No Way to Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens.”
On his live broadcast, Jones was angry and defiant, calling the sale “a total attack on free speech.” He later announced his show was being shut down. Jones then resumed his broadcast from a new studio nearby and carried it live on his accounts on X.
At a court hearing Thursday afternoon in Houston, the trustee who oversaw the auction, Christopher Murray, acknowledged that The Onion did not have the highest bid but said it was a better deal overall because some of the Sandy Hook families agreed to forgo a portion of the sale proceeds to pay Jones' other creditors. First United American Companies, a business affiliated with one of Jones’ product-selling websites, submitted the only other bid. The trustee said he could not put a dollar amount on The Onion’s bid.
Walter Cicack, an attorney for First United American Companies, told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez that Murray changed the auction process only days before, deciding not to hold a round Wednesday where parties could outbid each other. Sealed bids were submitted last week, and the trustee chose only from those, Cicack said.
After the hearing, Jones said on his show that he thought the auction was unfairly rigged and expressed optimism that the judge would nullify the sale. He has repeatedly told his listeners that if his supporters won the bidding, he could stay on the Infowars platforms but that he had set up a new studio, websites and social media accounts in case they were needed.
“This was a auction that didn’t happen, with a bid that was lower, with money that wasn’t real," he said.
Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, told The Associated Press in a video interview earlier Thursday that it planned to relaunch the Infowars website in January with satire aimed at conspiracy theorists and right-wing personalities, as well as educational information about gun violence prevention from the group Everytown for Gun Safety. Collins would not disclose the bid amount.
“We thought it would be a very funny joke if we bought this thing, probably one of the better jokes we’ve ever told,” Collins said. “The (Sandy Hook) families decided they would effectively join our bid, back our bid, to try to get us over the finish line. Because by the end of the day, it was us or Alex Jones, who could either continue this website unabated, basically unpunished, for what he’s done to these families over the years, or we could make a dumb, stupid website, and we decided to do the second thing.”
Jones did not lose his personal X account, which has more than 3 million followers, in the auction. But the bankruptcy judge is deciding whether his personal accounts can be sold off at the trustee’s request.
Sandy Hook families sued Jones and his company for repeatedly saying on his show that the shooting that killed 20 children and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, was a hoax staged by crisis actors to spur more gun control. Parents and children of many of the victims testified that they were traumatized by Jones’ conspiracies and threats by his followers . Jones has since acknowledged the shooting was “100% real.”
The Onion, based in Chicago, bills itself as “the world’s leading news publication, offering highly acclaimed, universally revered coverage of breaking national, international, and local news events.” Recent headlines have included, “Trump Boys Have Slap Fight Over Who Gets To Run Foreign Policy Meetings,” “Oklahoma Law Requires Ten Commandments To Be Displayed In Every Womb” and “Man Forgetting Difference Between Meteoroid, Meteorite Struggles To Describe What Just Killed His Dog.”
Red Lobster announced its exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 16 September after gaining the newly created RL Investor Holdings as its new owner and officially appointing Damola Adamolekun as CEO.
RL Investor Holdings is an entity created by funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group, alongside co-investors TCW Private Credit and Blue Torch. With the company taking over as the chain’s new owner, Red Lobster has exited its bankruptcy status.
“As part of our new ownership structure, we have backers who have a history of making successful investments in restaurants. Our comprehensive and long-term investment plan for Red Lobster includes a commitment of more than USD 60 million [EUR 54 million] in new funding, which will help us to deliver improvements across every aspect of our company,” Adamolekun said. “I’m looking forward to working with our 30,000-strong team to bring our plan to life.”
Post-bankruptcy, Adamolekun said Red Lobster is a stronger, more resilient company. Shedding the bankruptcy label has allowed the chain to “start a new chapter in our history," Adamolekun said.
Though Red Lobster’s bankruptcy status has been left behind, its debts have not.
Samut Sakhon, Thailand-based seafood company Thai Union is one of several companies claiming the Orlando, Florida, U.S.A.-based restaurant chain owes it money.
Thai Union, which once owned a significant share of Red Lobster, claims the chain owes the group around $3.7 million due to sudden changes in demand forecasts for shrimp.
Thai Union said it built up an excess inventory of shrimp in late 2023 that was custom-produced for Red Lobster – worth around $22.9 million. Red Lobster worked with Thai Union to lessen that inventory, but Thai Union is still seeking $3.7 million in related costs due to fluctuations in anticipated demand.
Red Lobster is now an independent, privately-held company with 545 restaurant locations in 44 states and four Canadian provinces.
Tupperware, known the world over for its plastic food storage containers, has filed for bankruptcy after years of falling popularity and financial troubles.
“Over the last several years, the company’s financial position has been severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment,” Laurie Ann Goldman, president and CEO of Tupperware Brands Corporation, said in a statement late Tuesday.
Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows companies to solve their financial problems by restructuring. “This process is meant to provide us with essential flexibility as we pursue strategic alternatives to support our transformation into a digital-first, technology-led company,” Goldman added.
Tupperware has historically sold to consumers only through so-called direct sales, most commonly at “Tupperware parties,” similar to cosmetic company Avon’s business model, and only began selling in Target in 2022.
“The party is over for Tupperware,” Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at UK investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, said in a note. “There is still a chance a buyer for the business can be found but, with plastic seen as far from fantastic among eco-aware consumers, revitalizing the brand will be an uphill struggle.”
Even though the brand was once a household name, it became less popular with younger consumers, in contrast with some of its competitors.
Tupperware rang the alarm bells in April 2023 when it disclosed in a regulatory filing that it could go out of business. The Florida-based company said at the time that, if it didn’t find more cash, it would no longer be able to fund its operations.
Tupperware found that lifeline four months later, when it reached a deal with its creditors to reduce its interest payment obligations by $150 million. It also secured $21 million in new financing, an extension on the deadline for paying back about $348 million in debt and a reduction in the amount of debt it owed by around $55 million.
But the company’s finances still declined following the deal.
The company said Tuesday that it would seek the approval of the bankruptcy court to continue operating during Chapter 11 proceedings.
Many businesses file for bankruptcy protection to wind down some operations, shed debt and cut costs. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is a common route.
Tupperware shares have plummeted 74.5% this year and last traded at just 51 cents.
Article credited from CNN.com
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge threw out Rudy Giuliani ’s bankruptcy case on Friday, slamming the former New York City mayor as a “recalcitrant debtor” who thumbed his nose at the process while seeking to shield himself from a $148 million defamation judgment and other debts.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane criticized Giuliani for repeated “uncooperative conduct,” self-dealing, and a lack of transparency. The judge cited failures to comply with court orders, failure to disclose sources of income, and his apparent unwillingness to hire an accountant to go over his books.
“Such a failure is a clear red flag,” Lane wrote.
Dismissing the case ends his pursuit of bankruptcy protection, but it doesn’t absolve him of his debts. His creditors can now pursue other legal remedies to recoup at least some of the money they’re owed, such as getting a court order to seize his apartments and other assets.
Giuliani is now free to also pursue an appeal of the defamation verdict, which arose from his efforts to overturn Republican Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential election loss.
Lane indicated at a hearing Wednesday that he would probably dismiss the case. Giuliani's lawyer had floated other options to keep the case alive, but agreed ultimately that dismissing it was the best way forward. The dismissal includes a 12-month ban on Giuliani filing again for bankruptcy protection.
“Transparency into Mr. Giuliani’s finances has proven to be an elusive goal,” Lane wrote, and he “sees no evidence that this will change.”
Among his concerns, the judge said, were that Giuliani funneled his income — including at least $15,000 a month from his now-canceled talk radio show — into companies he owned; never reported any income from those entities; failed to disclose that he had started promoting his own “Rudy Coffee” brand; and was late to disclose a contract he has to write a book.
Giuliani's spokesperson Ted Goodman — drawing a parallel to what he deemed the “grossly unfair” defamation case — said Friday that the bankruptcy matter had been “burdened with many of the same voluminous and overly broad discovery requests and other actions.” Among them, he claimed, were leaks “intended to harm the mayor and destroy his businesses.”
Giuliani, a longtime Trump ally, filed for bankruptcy last December just days after the eye-popping damages award to former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss. The bankruptcy filing froze collection of the debt.
A lawyer for Freeman and Moss accused Giuliani at Wednesday's hearing of using bankruptcy as a “bad-faith litigation tactic” and a “pause button on his woes,” and urged Lane to dismiss it so they could pursue the damages they were awarded.
“Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss have already waited too long for justice,” the women's lawyer, Rachel Strickland, said Friday. “We are pleased the court saw through Mr. Giuliani’s games and put a stop to his abuse of the bankruptcy process. We will begin enforcing our judgment against him ASAP.”
The other people and entities to whom Giuliani owes money wanted to keep the bankruptcy case going with a court-appointed trustee taking control of Giuliani’s assets.
Earlier this month, Giuliani requested the case be converted to a Chapter 7 liquidation — in which an appointed trustee would sell off assets to help pay creditors.
Giuliani's lawyer reconsidered that idea at Wednesday's hearing and pushed to dismiss the case instead, noting that administrative fees related to liquidation would “consume if not 100%, a substantial portion of the assets.”
Freeman and Moss can now bring their effort to collect on the award back to the court in Washington, D.C., where they won their lawsuit. The women said Giuliani’s targeting of them after Trump narrowly lost Georgia to Biden led to death threats that made them fear for their lives.
The bankruptcy is one of a host of legal woes consuming the 80-year-old Giuliani, the ex-federal prosecutor and 2008 Republican presidential candidate who was once heralded as “America’s Mayor” for his calm and steady leadership after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Last week, he was disbarred as an attorney in New York after a court found he repeatedly made false statements about Trump’s 2020 election loss. He is also facing the possibility of losing his law license in Washington after a board in May recommended that he be disbarred.
In Georgia and Arizona, Giuliani is facing criminal charges over his role in the effort to overturn the 2020 election. He has pleaded not guilty in both cases.
When he filed for bankruptcy, Giuliani listed nearly $153 million in existing or potential debts, including almost $1 million in state and federal tax liabilities, money he owes lawyers, and many millions of dollars in potential judgments in lawsuits against him. He estimated he had assets worth $1 million to $10 million.
In his most recent financial filings in the bankruptcy case, he said he had about $94,000 cash in hand at the end of May while his company, Giuliani Communications, had about $237,000 in the bank. A main source of income for Giuliani over the past two years has been a retirement account with a balance of just over $1 million in May, down from nearly $2.5 million in 2022 after his withdrawals, the filings say.
In May, he spent nearly $33,000 including nearly $28,000 for condo and co-op costs for his Florida and New York City homes. He also spent about $850 on food, $390 on cleaning services, $230 on medicine, $200 on laundry and $190 on vehicles.