By Dietrich Knauth
NEW YORK, Oct 29 (Reuters) - A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved Tupperware Brands' TUPBQ.PK proposal to sell its assets to its lenders, clearing the company to exit bankruptcy with most of its operations intact.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon approved the sale at a court hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, saying it was the best available option for Tupperware.
The food storage and kitchen products company had tried to find a buyer for months before its bankruptcy filing, but none were willing to pay off the company's $818 million in debt, Tupperware attorney Spencer Winters said at the hearing.
The lender group that is acquiring Tupperware includes Stonehill Capital Management Partners and Alden Global Capital, two investment firms that acquired Tupperware debt at a steep discount over the summer, according to Tupperware’s court filings. The lenders are providing $23.5 million in cash and over $63 million in debt relief.
The sale includes Tupperware's brand name and its assets in core markets including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China, Korea, India and Malaysia. The company plans to wind down its operations in certain other markets and shift to a "digital-first, technology-led and asset-light" business model after emerging from bankruptcy, Tupperware CEO Laurie Ann Goldman said in a statement last week.
The Orlando, Florida-based company filed for Chapter 11 protection last month, seeking to auction its assets on the open market.
But Tupperware's lenders opposed the company's sale plans, preferring to claim the assets for themselves. The lenders cut off the company's access to cash early in the bankruptcy, before the two sides agreed to a deal.
(Reporting by Dietrich Knauth in New YorkEditing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Matthew Lewis)
((Dietrich.Knauth@thomsonreuters.com;))
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