new york – Fat Brands, which owns restaurant chains Fatburger, Johnny Rockets and Twin Peaks, has filed for bankruptcy, joining a wave of casual dining brands seeking court protection from creditors.

The Beverly Hills-based company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas on January 26, according to court documents. It lists assets between US$1 billion (S$1.27 billion) and US$10 billion, with liabilities in the same range.

The action comes after FAT Brands failed to make interest payments due in October 2025 on a portion of $1.2 billion in total business securitization debt. Creditors subsequently demanded immediate repayment of the entire amount, claiming that the failure to make payments amounted to default. FAT Brands warned that the request could force it to file for bankruptcy protection.

According to the company’s website, FAT Brands operates more than 2,300 food and beverage outlets around the world.

Fatburger store in Singapore to close in 2023

When its operating company, franchise management company Deelish Brands, ceases operations.

FAT Brands’ bankruptcy follows several other bankruptcies in the casual dining industry in recent years, including Hooters, TGI Fridays and Red Lobster. Many companies, like FAT Brands, were saddled with whole business securitization debt, a product that used Wall Street financial engineering to lower borrowing costs for franchise-focused companies.

Hooters entered Chapter 11 in 2025 with about $300 million in these asset-backed bonds and emerged from that process in recent weeks. TGI Fridays, which went bankrupt at the end of 2024, was financed with similar debt.

FAT Brands acquired Italian restaurant chain Fazoli’s for US$130 million in 2021, and Hooters competitor Twin Peaks, a sports restaurant company, for US$300 million in the same year.

Court documents list food distribution company Cisco and food delivery service DoorDash as the company’s largest unsecured creditors, with claims of about $5 million and $1.4 million, respectively. bloomberg