Voluntary administrators have been appointed to weight loss company, Jenny Craig’s Australian and New Zealand operations.
Weight loss company, Jenny Craig – a major player in Australia’s multi-billion-dollar weight industry for decades – has had voluntary administrators appointed for Australia and New Zealand.
As reported by Forbes Australia last week, Jenny Craig shut its doors after four decades in business, telling staff via email to expect mass layoffs as the popularity of weight loss drugs, such as the diabetes drug Ozempic, continue to take a toll on the diet and nutrition industry. You can read the story here.
It is understood the Australian and NZ operations – which operate separately from the US business – wanted to avoid appointing administrators, however it became a necessary step to potentially restructuring the business.
Shares of HIG Capital, the private-equity firm that acquired Jenny Craig in April 2019, dropped 1.05% mid last week, to $69.77, and are down more than 7% on the year.
Vaughan Strawbridge, Kate Warwick, and Joseph Hansell of FTI Consulting have been appointed as Voluntary Administrators of Jenny Craig Weight Loss Centres and Jenny Craig Weight Loss Centres in Australia and NZ. The appointment is “intended to seek a restructuring of those businesses and avoid the fate as the US business, which recently entered Chapter 7”, the administrators said in a statement.
“It is unfortunate where an overseas parent company enters bankruptcy and impacts the local business, in particular, where they are operated independently to each other.
“We are working with the Australian and NZ leadership team to trade the businesses with a view to attracting new capital to restructure the Australian and NZ companies. Interest has already been received and we will be working with those parties and stakeholders of the business to secure the ongoing business and provide clarity to its loyal and committed staff and customers as soon as possible,” administrator Vaughan Strawbridge said.
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