The uptick trend on food delivery when the coronavirus pandemic struck the world was not enough to keep the NPC International Inc., the largest franchisee of Pizza Hut and Wendy’s restaurants in the U.S., afloat amid rising labor and food costs as well as cut-throat competition.
NPC, which owns 1,225 Pizza Hut locations and 385 Wendy’s restaurants that operate in 30 states, filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, the company confirmed in a statement.
Jon Weber, chief executive and president of NPC’s Pizza Hut division, said in a statement, “These challenges have been magnified recently by the impact and uncertainty of COVID-19.”
The Kansas-based company said it has arrived at this decision to restructure support agreement with its lenders to “substantially reduce NPC’s long-term debt and strengthen the company’s capital structure.”
As per Bloomberg report, NPC International has an accumulated $903 million (Dh3.3 billion) in debt.
The bankruptcy protection filed by the company aims to reduce the company’s debt, with first-lien lenders taking equity and potentially participating in a new cash injection.
Part of its plan to save what’s left is to sell a number of the company’s restaurants, the report said.
With the bankruptcy filed by NPC, 7,500 full-time jobs and about 28,500 part-time jobs are at stake.
