(Reuters) -U.S. pharmacy chain Rite Aid is weighing a possible repeat bankruptcy after its recent financial restructuring failed to put the drugstore chain on a sustainable path, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
The company has also been pursuing a sale of some or all of its businesses as a potential alternative to a Chapter 11 filing, the WSJ report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
If a sale doesn’t materialize either inside or outside of bankruptcy, the pharmacy chain stands at risk of liquidating more of its footprint, the report added.
Rite Aid did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The Pennsylvania-based company emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and successfully completed its financial restructuring last year, operating as a private company.
The pharmacy has used its bankruptcy to close hundreds of stores, sell its pharmacy benefit company Elixir and negotiate settlements with its lenders, drug distribution partner McKesson and other creditors.
Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 in October 2023, after reporting $750 million in losses and $24 billion in revenue for the fiscal year ended March 2023. It operated 2,000 pharmacies at the time of its bankruptcy.
(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
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