Red Lobster Has Filed for Bankruptcy

I wish we could all say we didn’t see this coming, but we can’t.

News broke this morning that Red Lobster has filed for bankruptcy.

Nearly one month after Red Lobster announced they were seeking council for a possible bankruptcy filing, Red Lobster quietly began closing restaurants and selling off equipment.

While many of those auctions took place this past weekend, Red Lobster has now filed bankruptcy.

As for the future of Red Lobster? The company said it had more than $1 billion in debt and less than $30 million in cash on hand.

Red Lobster plans to sell its business to its lenders, and in turn, it will receive financing to stay afloat but will continue closing locations.

As the company ran out of cash, they stopped paying its vendors last year which was the first sign they were in trouble.

According to the bankruptcy petition, they plan to stay afloat with a $100 million financing agreement.

No word on which locations exactly will close but they have already began shutting down 93 restaurants across the US.

You can see the Red Lobster Locations closing here.