January 29, 2025 — The U.S. restaurant industry is coming off a year in which it struggled to keep menu prices low due to high labor and operational costs at the same time inflationary pressures led consumers to eat more food at home.
This resulted in several notable bankruptcies, including Red Lobster, TGI Fridays, Rubio’s Coastal Grill, Buca di Beppo, and more.
October 2, 2024 — U.S. Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya recently sent a letter to the top-grossing seafood restaurants in the country, cautioning them not to give their customers the false impression that they are eating wild-caught U.S. seafood when they are, in fact, serving imported, farm-raised seafood.
“Many Americans are willing to pay a premium for wild-caught, American seafood. Those customers deserve to know when they are being offered the genuine article – and when they are being offered something else,” Bedoya said in the letter sent to Red Lobster, Long John Silver’s, and Legal Sea Foods, among other companies.
September 18, 2024 — 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.
September 6, 2024 — Seafood restaurant chain Red Lobster announced that it has received court approval for its Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan.
As part of the plan, RL Investor Holdings will acquire the chain. RL Investor Holdings is an entity created by funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC, alongside co-investors TCW Private Credit and Blue Torch.
The deal is expected to close by the end of this month, per a statement from Red Lobster.
The sale also means that Red Lobster will remain an independent company with 544 locations across the U.S. and Canada. Bloomberg also reported that 30,000 employees will be retained.
On completion of the sale, Red Lobster will name Damola Adamolekun CEO, and Jonathan Tibus, who has served in that role during the company’s reorganization, will step down and leave Red Lobster.
September 5, 2024 — The sale of Red Lobster to Fortress Credit was officially approved at a hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on 5 September, even as the U.S. trustee overseeing the bankruptcy case is opposing confirmation of the restaurant chain’s bankruptcy plan.
In late July, Red Lobster canceled an auction to sell its assets and announced that Fortress Credit – Red Lobster’s primary creditor – would be purchasing the company’s assets instead.
August 30, 2024– A series of lawsuits related to sustainability claims and eco-labels have changed the seafood industry’s approach to marketing sustainability bona fides, with lawsuits filed against Walmart, Mowi, Gorton’s, ALDI, Conagra, Bumble Bee Foods, and Red Lobster either pending or resorting to settlements.
The suits should be a wake-up call to the seafood industry that it needs to change its marketing practices, according to Arlin Wasserman, the founder and managing director of seafood industry consultancy Changing Tastes. Wasserman, who was previously the vice president of sustainability at foodservice provider Sodexo, said the suits have fundamentally altered the calculus of whether eco-labels are still worth using.
July 17, 2024 — Thai Union has claimed in a court filing that restaurant chain Red Lobster owes it, along with its subsidiary Tri-Union Frozen Products, which conducts business as Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods, nearly USD 3.7 million (EUR 3.4 million).
Thai Union, a longtime seafood supplier and former part-owner of Red Lobster, said in a filing to U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Orlando, Florida, that Red Lobster’s financial distress and “abrupt reductions of purchasing volumes caused Thai Union to accumulate a “high level” of excess inventory – valued at around USD 22.9 million (EUR 21 million).
July 11, 2024 — Nearly two months after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, restaurant chain Red Lobster announced at a court hearing on 10 July it is considering pursuing an alternate path: reorganization
The Orlando, Florida, U.S.A.-based chain, which, for now, operates 570 restaurants, is still aiming to sell its company either to Fortress Credit – a private investment firm that focuses on distressed companies, has USD 48 million (EUR 44.3 million) under management, and is Red Lobster’s biggest creditor – or to other potential buyers.
July 9, 2024 — After closing more than 100 locations following the announcement of its bankruptcy, restaurant chain Red Lobster is hoping it can successfully negotiate leases on several additional locations that are on the chopping block.
At a creditor meeting held on 28 June, Red Lobster CEO Jonathan Tibus said the chain will close several additional restaurants because negotiations with landlords on the locations’ leases fell through.
June 19, 2024 — Fortress Credit Corp. has been confirmed as the stalking horse bidder in the auctioned sale of Red Lobster, approved to take place in late July by the judge overseeing the Orlando, Florida, U.S.A.-based seafood restaurant chain’s bankruptcy proceeding.
Fortress, a private investment firm with USD 48 million (EUR 44.7 million) under management and a focus on distressed companies, has become one of Red Lobster’s largest creditors.