Red Lobster to exit bankruptcy with former P.F. Chang CEO in charge

Thursday, Sept. 5 was touted as “a great day for Red Lobster,” which is good news for the company as there haven’t been many great days for the beleaguered restaurant chain. The place known for its cheddar bay biscuits has seen its fair share of problems in recent years.

The chain dealt with an all-you-can-eat shrimp promotion that hurt profits, a carousel of CEOs, rising food costs, dwindling customer traffic, and the closure of over 100 locations. Red Lobster was tanking and filed for bankruptcy in May.

But now things are looking up for the seafood chain . First there was its collaboration with Flavor Flav, and now a federal judge on Thursday approved Red Lobster’s Chapter 11 plans in its hope to bounce back.

Under those plans, Red Lobster would be under new ownership, RL Investor Holdings, an entity led by Fortress Investment Group along with co-investors. The plan calls for Red Lobster to continue to operate as an independent company.

The $375 million acquisition is expected to close before the end of the month when the newest CEO takes over. Damola Adamolekun is the former CEO of P.F. Chang’s.

It was Adamolekun, who in a statement Thursday, said those words: “This is a great day for Red Lobster.”

The soon-to-be Red Lobster CEO painted a bright outlook for the Orlando-based company, saying there is a commitment from backers of more than $60 million in new funding.

“Red Lobster has a tremendous future, and I cannot wait to get started on our plan with the company's more than 30,000 team members across the USA and Canada,” Adamolekun said.

Red Lobster currently has 544 locations in 44 states in the U.S. and four provinces in Canada.

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