'A new day': Tupperware cancels asset auction, agrees to lender takeover
Tupperware has reached a tentative agreement to sell its business just weeks after the kitchen product company filed for bankruptcy.
The private sale of the Tupperware name and its products is to a couple of key lenders, including Alden Global Capital, according to a company announcement on Tuesday.
Tupperware is set to pocket $23.5 million in cash and over $63 million in debt relief in exchange for “all intellectual property” needed to create and market, as well as operating assets in the U.S and abroad, the company said.
The proposed transaction is expected to close by the end of month, pending court approval and other customary closing conditions, according to Tupperware. But, bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon said the deal was likely the best option given the company’s “difficult and challenging circumstances,” Reuters reported.
The sale was disclosed at a bankruptcy court hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday, the news agency reported.
“After years of struggling with an over-leveraged balance sheet and outdated operating model, the transaction would mark a new day for the iconic brand,” according to Tupperware.
The dawn of a 'new' Tupperware
The deal between the Florida-based company and its lenders strikes a middle ground, one where lenders can use debt cancellation as part of the purchase price while putting up capital Tupperware can use to pay off other debts, according to Reuters.
The company has made “tremendous growth” in the last year and are “delighted” a group of investors “share our vision and will partner with us to grow,” said Laurie Ann Goldman, Tupperware’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
"Tupperware is considered the inventor of the party selling model and made no-leak food conservation products famous,” Goldman said. “Over the last year, we created a new strategy and operating approach that is digital-first, technology-led and asset-light, and preserved a global footprint for the company.”
The “new” Tupperware Company will shift its focus toward serving “core global markets” including the U.S., Canada, Mexico and others. And will continue to “support entrepreneurship and a more sustainable lifestyle.”
Customers can still purchase Tupperware products from company consultants, online and at retail locations in the core global markets, Tupperware said.
'Spark of inspiration' creates Tupperware
Tupperware Brands was founded in 1946. Its first products were debuted by chemist Earl S. Tupper in Massachusetts in the early 1940s after he had a "spark of inspiration" while creating molds at a plastics factory shortly after the Great Depression, according to the company’s website.
Shortly thereafter, Brownie Wise held the first at-home Tupperware party, leading to her being named the company's vice president of marketing in the 1950s.
Tupperware products became a staple in homes across the country and abroad in the decades that followed. The company, according to Reuters, has "relied too much" on independent sales representatives in recent years and has suffered as a result.
Contributing: Gabe Hauari and Jordan Mendoza
This story was updated to add a video.