Two months after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, luxury candy retailer Sugarfina has a new owner. The Bristol Luxury Group, a subsidiary of investment firm Bristol Capital Advisors LLC, won the auction to purchase the assets of Sugarfina for $15.1 million.
Barlock Capital and Scott LaPorta join Bristol as co-investors, with LaPorta now serving as CEO of Sugarfina.
Sugarfina operated more than 50 locations across North America, in major cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Chicago and Vancouver prior to the bankruptcy, but closed six locations immediately after the filing.
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Sugarfina had been expanding its brand globally prior to its bankruptcy. The retailer opened its first location in Hong Kong in 2018, and in May 2019 Sugarfina signed a deal with GIN Group to open 26 boutiques in Mexico over the next five years.
But as the company grew, its losses mounted on the balance sheet. Sugarfina reported losses of $17.9 million in 2018 and had amassed more than $22.4 million in short-term debt by early 2019. The company projected that it would need to keep raising money to stay afloat, according to the filing.
Upon declaring bankruptcy, Sugarfina received a $13 million lead offer from holding company Candy Cube Holdings in preparation for the auction.Sugarfina began soliciting potential transactions in June but concluded that it couldn’t complete a deal outside of bankruptcy court.
