Homewares and multicooker retailer Instant Brands has collapsed and filed for bankruptcy protection as mounting debt threatens its operations.
The US-based company and certain of its affiliates have initiated a “voluntary court-supervised” Chapter 11 procedure to continue “ongoing discussions” with its stakeholders regarding its financial position.
The company sells kitchen devices such as Instant Pot pressure cookers, Corelle dinner plates and Pyrex glassware globally. In Australia, its products are sold by Big W, Coles and Woolworths.
Ben Gadbois, president and CEO of Instant Brands, said the business is committed to finding a “positive outcome” to the situation.
“After successfully navigating the pandemic and the global supply chain crisis, we continue to face additional global macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges that have affected our business.
“In particular, the tightening of credit terms and higher interest rates impacted our liquidity levels and made our capital structure unsustainable.”
Meanwhile, the company’s Australian subsidiary Instant Brands (Australia) Pty Ltd said in a statement to Inside Retail that its operations and cash flows are managed by the local team and the company is unaffected by the US bankruptcy protection process.
“We are continuing to serve our retail and distribution partners and our community of users without interruption, and they remain our top priority,” a spokesperson said.
According to Retail Dive, the US company owes its creditors more than $38 million along with an additional $512.3 million in outstanding principal-funded debt obligations.
Meanwhile, the business’ existing lenders have provided it with $ 132.5 million in debtor-in-possession financing to enable operations to continue during the bankruptcy process.
The company says it intends to pay its vendors, suppliers and distributors in full “under normal terms for goods and services provided on or after the filing date”.
The business’ other entities outside the US and Canada are unaffected by the Chapter 11 process.
