Deals

Bumble Bee Considers Bankruptcy to Ease Debt and Legal Costs

  • Seafood packager pleaded guilty to price fixing in 2017
  • Lingering legal proceedings could complicate a sale process

Bumble Bee Tuna

Photographer: Geri Lavrov/Moment Mobile via Getty Images

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Bumble Bee Seafood LLC is considering a bankruptcy filing as one way to ease its financial burden, which stems in part from a 2017 guilty plea to federal price-fixing charges, according to people with knowledge of the plans.

The prospect of a court-supervised restructuring under Chapter 11 is among several options being evaluated, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter. One alternative would involve finding a buyer, but any suitor might have to deal with fallout from some of the legal proceedings that are still in progress, they said.