Fort Lauderdale-headquartered BurgerFi International (NASDAQ: BFI), the parent company of BurgerFi and Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
BurgerFi was founded in 2011 and went public in 2020, acquiring Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza & Wings for $156.6 million several months later. As of April 1, the company had 162 restaurants.
The company said the bankruptcy filing will impact 67 corporate-owned locations of both brands while the franchisee-owned locations will not be impacted. The company recruited Carl Bachmann, the former president of Smashburger, was brought in as CEO to work with Jeremy Rosenthal, who was hired last month as chief restructuring officer.
According to the filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of Delaware, the company accumulated between $50 million to $100 million in assets and up to $500 million in debt. BurgerFi closed 14 restaurants during fiscal year 2023 and another eight units in the first quarter this year.
“BurgerFi and Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza & Wings are dynamic and beloved brands, and in the face of a drastic decline in post-pandemic consumer spending amidst sustained inflation and increasing food and labor costs, we need to stabilize the business in a structured process,” said Rosenthal. “We are confident that this process will allow us to protect and grow our brands and to continue the operational turnaround started less than 12 months ago and secure additional capital.”
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