According to 38 separate Chapter 7 petitions filed in the US Bankruptcy Court in Sherman based in Texas, the two chains chains listed assets totaling as much as $778.9 million and debt of as much as $324.2 million.
According to S&A spokeswoman, corporate stores operated by franchise holders are not named as debtors in the filing and could continue to operate normally. There has been some uncertainty over non corporate stores operated as franchises. A full list of stores closed is expected to be out by Tuesday.
The Metromedia Group also said that the Ponderosa and Bonanza restaurants that operate under Metromedia Steakhouses Co. LP will continue to operate normally as this filing does not apply to them.
``Not all stores using these trade names have filed bankruptcy,'' Metromedia spokeswoman Leah Templeton said in a statement. ``Stores operated by franchisees are not named as debtors in these filings.''
Bennigan's Grill & Tavern, commonly known as Bennigan's, is a faux-Irish pub-themed casual dining restaurant chain with locations throughout the United States. More than half of the chain's locations are currently closed due to a bankruptcy filing.
However, nearly half of all locations are franchises, many existing in fourteen countries and 15 territories outside the continental U.S., and not in bankruptcy. It is owned and operated by the S&A Restaurant Corp. which is currently in Chapter 7, Title 11, and United States Code bankruptcy.
S&A Restaurant Corp owns Benningan's and Steak and Ale and is under holding company Metromedia Restaurant Group which is also the holding company for Ponderosa Steakhouse.
Source Business Journal
