Orlando-based restaurant Hawkers announced this week it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to protect itself from what the company called a “hyper-aggressive” lender.
Hawkers, which serves Asian street food, operates 15 restaurants in seven states and said all locations will remain open and continue normal operations during bankruptcy proceedings.
The company entered into a “debt capital agreement” in early 2023, borrowing $23 million to grow the company nationally. Hawkers was started by four friends who opened the first Hawkers on Mills Avenue in Orlando in 2011.
Scott Shuker, the restaurant’s bankruptcy attorney, said Hawkers has never missed a loan payment. But in the last 60 days, he said, the lending company revealed its intentions to take over the restaurant by replacing its leadership.
The lender is ABC Funding, LLC, acting as an administrative agent for Summit Partners Subordinated Debt Fund IV, based out of Boston, Shuker said. The lending company could not be reached for comment. read more