June 4 (UPI) — Flower delivery company FTD filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday after failing to recover from the $200 million debt the Illinois-based company incurred for purchasing a rival company.
FTD said it has a commitment for about $94.5 million in funding to continue operations for the time being and is looking to accept bids to sell the companies over the next six weeks.
“Over the last several months, we conducted a robust strategic review to determine the best path forward for our company,” CEO and President Scott Levin said.
“With the advice and support of our outside advisers, we have initiated this court-supervised restructuring process to provide an orderly forum to facilitate sales of our businesses as going concerns and to enable us to address a near-term debt maturity.”
FTD’s debt comes largely from its purchase of ProFlowers in 2014, after which sales began to fall, with a 9 percent drop by 2017.
The company said it has a plan to sell ProFlowers and its North America and Latin American florist businesses to an affiliate of Nexus Capital Management. It also plans to sell Shari’s Berries to the founder of Edible Arrangements.
“The important actions we are taking today are designed to enable us to continue supporting our network of florists and business partners and serving consumers while we work to complete the initiatives coming out of our strategic review,” Levin said.
