(WJET/WFXP) — Less than two weeks after filing for bankruptcy, Redbox's parent company has now filed to liquidate the company. This liquidation also includes its 24,000 bright-red movie rental kiosks that you can find all over the United States.
Chicken Soup for Soul Entertainment (CSSE) officially filed to convert its Chapter 11 bankruptcy to a Chapter 7 liquidation on Wednesday. The bankruptcy comes after the company owed several businesses money that housed the kiosks.
CSSE not only owns the Redbox brand but also the streaming services Crackle and Chicken Soup for the Soul.
CSSE acquired Redbox in August of 2022 as part of a $375 million acquisition deal. As part of the deal, CSSE hoped that pre-COVID numbers would return. However, this did not happen. Debt began to accrue and the company took on additional loans, eventually resulting in insufficient cash flow.
HPS Investment Partners, which has been one of the company's backers and arranged for financing for the DIP loan, said it could not extend any additional financial resources. According to Bloomberg, HPS had taken over the Board of Directors on July 2.
At this time it is not clear when the Redbox Kiosks will begin to close down.
