Restaurant chain TGI Fridays has filed for chapter safety within the US.
The chapter safety submitting was made by TGI Fridays Inc, a Dallas-based American arm of the informal eating model, which operates 39 eating places within the US.
It comes after the corporate confronted monetary challenges because of the COVID-19 pandemic and after a deal for it to be bought to its UK arm collapsed.
The agency has mentioned its 39 branches would keep open after it secured a financing dedication to assist operations.
In its submitting with the US chapter courtroom for the Northern District of Texas, TGI Fridays Inc listed each property and liabilities within the vary of $100m (£77m) to $500m (£387m).
Rohit Manocha, government chairman of TGI Fridays Inc, mentioned: “The primary driver of our financial challenges resulted from COVID-19 and our capital structure.
“This restructuring will enable our go-forward eating places to proceed with an optimised company infrastructure that allows them to achieve their full potential.”
The 39 eating places owned by the corporate within the US are a fraction of the 461 TGI Friday-branded eating places world wide.
A separate entity, TGI Fridays Franchisor, owns the mental property and has franchised the model to 56 unbiased homeowners in 41 international locations
These branches, together with these within the UK, may even stay open.
The UK franchise had been run by hospitality agency Hostmore earlier than it entered into administration in September – placing 4,500 jobs and 87 retailers in danger.
Nevertheless, 51 eating places stayed open and a couple of,400 jobs had been saved in a sale to non-public funding corporations Breal Capital and Calverton.
Months earlier, a £177m settlement for TGI Fridays Inc to be bought to Hostmore had collapsed.
The deal broke down after the US agency misplaced management of TGIF Funding, and with it, the royalties from its profitable franchise agreements and mental property.
Based in 1965, the recognition of TGI Fridays peaked in 2008 with 601 eating places within the US and a $2bn (£1.5bn) enterprise, based on Kevin Schimpf, director of trade analysis at Technomic
Its gross sales within the US had been $728m (£563m) in 2023, down 15% from the prior 12 months, based on Technomic.
It now counts 163 eating places within the US, down from 269 final 12 months. It closed 36 in January and dozens extra up to now week.
Sit-down chain eating places have extra broadly confronted challenges in recent times as diners select to get meals delivered or go to upscale quick meals chains like Chipotle and Shake Shack.
