Hen Soup for the Soul Leisure Inc. — a vendor of self-help books, motion pictures and tv content material — has filed for chapter after being unable to beat a considerable amount of debt.
The media firm filed for Chapter 11 safety in Delaware late Friday, itemizing property and liabilities of no less than $500 million every. The appliance permits Hen Soup to proceed working so long as it really works on a plan to repay collectors.
Court docket paperwork present Hen Soup struggled to satisfy its monetary obligations after shopping for DVD rental firm Redbox in 2022. It assumed about $360 million in debt within the deal, an quantity that might solely be managed if it may capitalize on film releases which have rebounded from pandemic-era lows, stated Chairman William J. Ruhana Jr. in a chapter court docket submitting. .
Though the film enterprise has recovered a bit, it wanted extra cash to purchase and distribute new content material, Rouhana stated. However based on Ruhana, the corporate’s lenders vetoed the brand new line of credit score, depriving the enterprise of funds.
That left Hen Soup “unable to pay for all the flicks that have been being provided by their suppliers, and the working outcomes didn’t meet administration’s expectations, particularly within the rental of Redbox kiosks, which resulted in inadequate money circulation and dealing capital to successfully run the enterprise,” Rouhana stated. stated.
The corporate plans to make use of its chapter to promote some enterprise items and restructure others, based on court docket filings. He raised $20 million in new debt to finance the Chapter 11 course of.
Hen Soup nonetheless operates about 24,000 Redbox DVD rental kiosks throughout the US. It additionally works with Crackle, a free streaming service that makes cash from promoting. The corporate’s content material library consists of 28,000 motion pictures and 40,000 episodes of tv sequence, based on court docket filings.
The Connecticut-based firm was based in 1993 and takes its identify from its good books. Its growth into movie and tv programming and video streaming got here later, together with a line of premium pet meals. In 2017, it turned a public firm.
An organization spokesman declined to remark past the court docket filings.
In re: Hen Soup for the Soul Leisure Inc., 24-11442, U.S. Chapter Court docket for the District of Delaware.
