Salt Lake City / UT. (bw) Mrs. Fields´ Original Cookies Inc. announced on August 24, 2008 that it and certain of its subsidiaries have filed voluntary bankruptcy petitions under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. As part of the filing, the Company has also filed its prepackaged Plan of Reorganization.
The prepackaged bankruptcy will significantly improve the Company´s balance sheet by exchanging approximately 195 million USD in bondholder debt for cash, new bonds and a controlling equity stake in the reorganized company. Further, under the prepackaged filing, employees, franchisees and vendors will not be adversely impacted and the Company will maintain its commitment to delivering its customers the highest quality products and exceptional customer service.
The Company plans to continue operating each of its businesses without interruption during the prepackaged bankruptcy. In a joint statement, Michael Ward and John Lauck, interim co-Chief Executive Officers of the Company stated, «We want to assure our employees, franchisees, customers, vendors, and other stakeholders that Mrs. Fields and TCBY remain strong, thriving brands. We see the filing of the prepackaged bankruptcy as a largely administrative matter since the bondholders holding the majority of our bonds have already agreed to the restructuring. Business will continue as usual throughout this process, and we have every confidence that the Company will emerge from Chapter 11 a more vital company ready to achieve strong growth in the future».
For the 26 weeks ended June 28, 2008, the Company has seen significant improvements in each of its businesses compared to the prior year, including:
- 20,2 percent increase in revenues for Mrs. Fields Branded Retail;
- 5,3 percent increase in revenues for the combined Mrs. Fields Cookies business units;
- one percent increase in year-over-year sales during the second quarter for Mrs. Fields franchise stores; and
- 2,2 percent increase in year-over-year sales during the second quarter for TCBY.
About: Mrs. Fields´ Original Cookies Inc. is a well established franchisor in the premium snack food industry, featuring Mrs. Fields(R) and TCBY(R) as its core brands. Through its franchisees´ retail stores, it is one of the largest retailers of freshly baked, on-premises specialty cookies and brownies in the United States of America and the largest retailer of soft-serve frozen yogurt with live active cultures in the United States. In addition, it operates a gifts and a branded retail business and has entered into licensing arrangements that attempt to leverage awareness of its core brands among its retail customer base. Its franchise systems operate through a network of more than 1’200 franchised and licensed locations throughout the U.S. and in 22 foreign countries. The Company is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.
