Instant Pot and Pyrex Maker Instant Brands Draws Interest From Citadel, Centre Lane

Instant Brands, the Illinois-based bankrupt maker of the Instant Pot pressure cooker and Pyrex glassware, has drawn interest for different parts of its business from parties including Centre Lane Partners and hedge fund Citadel, according to people familiar with the matter.

(Bloomberg) — Instant Brands, the Illinois-based bankrupt maker of the Instant Pot pressure cooker and Pyrex glassware, has drawn interest for different parts of its business from parties including Centre Lane Partners and hedge fund Citadel, according to people familiar with the matter.

Citadel has offered to purchase loan holdings from existing lenders at around 7 cents on the dollar, said the people who asked not to be named because the details of the matter are private. It’s asking those who don’t want to sell to team up in a potential bid for certain assets, such as the housewares business, some of the people said. That would allow lenders to use debt they’re owed toward purchasing the company’s assets out of bankruptcy.

Its subsidiary Citadel Advisors owns about $7.4 million in loans to Instant Brands on behalf of funds and accounts managed by it, according to a June court filing. It’s part of a group of lenders that own or manage roughly $258.1 million in terms loans to the kitchen goods maker.

Meanwhile, private equity firm Centre Lane is considering a bid for the appliance unit, said some of the people. Deliberations are fluid and there is no certainty that the parties will proceed with a final bid, they added.

Representatives for Instant Brands, company adviser Guggenheim Securities and Citadel declined to comment. Representatives for Centre Lane and Ropes & Gray — which is representing first-lien lenders — didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Instant Brands filed for Chapter 11 protection in June, saying that its balance sheet was weighed down by higher interest rates, tighter credit terms from suppliers, and declining consumer demand. The bankruptcy filing allowed Instant Brands to keep operating while it seeks approval of a plan to repay creditors, including an auction process.

The company pushed back the date for a bankruptcy judge to approve its sale hearing to Sept. 29 from a revised Sept. 21 date, according to a court document filed Sept. 20.

Its dollar-denominated term loan due 2028 is quoted at around 21 cents on the dollar, compared to 55.5 cents at the start of March, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The case is Instant Brands Acquisition Holdings Inc., 23-90716, US Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Texas.

(Updates to include information about the company’s loan in the penultimate paragraph. A previous version corrected to clarify that it’s hedge fund Citadel showing interest.)

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