WeightWatchers has filed for bankruptcy armed with a plan to shed USD 1.15bn from its balance sheet and pay unsecured creditors in full, as well as give 9% of the reorganized equity to existing equity holders.

The company filed its Chapter 11 petition on Tuesday (6 May) and Judge Craig Goldblatt of the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware has scheduled a first day hearing for Thursday (8 May) at 11am ET. The company intends to fund its case through consensual cash collateral use and hopes to emerge from bankruptcy in June.