Looks like it\u2019s cooked to a crisp.<\/p>\n
Food52 Inc.<\/a>, the buzzy cooking and home-decor company based in Brooklyn, filed for bankruptcy protection this week after a massive round of layoffs earlier this month.\u00a0<\/p>\n The 16-year-old company\u2019s lender yanked its funding on Dec. 15, leaving Food52 \u2013 which also owns the tableware brand Dansk and home-decor brand Schoolhouse \u2013 with no money in the bank.<\/p>\n Food52 was forced into bankruptcy after its lender yanked its funding. food52.com<\/p>\n \u201cOvernight, the company found itself scrambling for survival,\u201d according to the filing in Delaware bankruptcy court.<\/p>\n Food52, which offers recipes, home improvement tips and sells upscale home goods online, declined to comment.<\/p>\n The struggling media and e-commerce company \u2013 founded by New York Times food journos Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs \u2013 had been looking for a buyer when its lender Avidbank pulled the plug, according to the filing.<\/p>\n Avid did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n One of Food52\u2019s suitors, Boston-based America\u2019s Test Kitchen, which broadcasts a cooking show on on public TV stations, emerged as the stalking-horse bidder agreeing to purchase the once high-flying company for $6.5 million, America\u2019s Test Kitchen announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a far cry from Food52\u2019s $100 million valuation in 2019 when private equity firm the Chernin Group forked over $83 million for a majority stake, according to a Wall Street Journal report<\/a>.<\/p>\n America\u2019s Test Kitchen is offering $6.5 million to acquire Food52 out of bankruptcy. \u00a9IMDb TV\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n Food52\u2019s CEO Erika Badan, is the former CEO of Barstool Sports. Annie Wermiel\/NY Post<\/p>\n Food52 ran into trouble after it acquired Dansk and Portland, Ore-based Schoolhouse and \u201cfound itself managing three distinct brands with few synergies,\u201d according to the filing. And it \u201cfaced ongoing executive changes, strategy changes and staff turnover,\u201d the filing stated.<\/p>\n Based in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where it has occupied the entire 13th floor<\/a> and ran test kitchens and studios, Food52 is led by Erika Badan, the former Barstools Sports CEO<\/a>.<\/p>\n