WW International (WeightWatchers) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing consumer preference changes and GLP-1 medication popularity as factors in court documents.
The company, once valued at $7 billion with $1.5 billion in annual revenue in 2018, has negotiated a pre-packaged deal to hand control to secured lenders and bondholders at a valuation of approximately $700 million.
WeightWatchers told a Delaware federal court it could no longer service its $1.6 billion debt load as annual revenue fell to under $800 million by 2024. The company’s subscriber count dropped 12% to 3.3 million last year despite its 2023 acquisition of telehealth startup Sequence for $106 million to enter the prescription weight loss market.
The company is expected to exit bankruptcy next month with current shareholders potentially receiving up to 10% of reorganized equity if certain milestones are met.
