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Shells Restaurant Chain Seeks To Liquidate Assets

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Published: September 24, 2008

TAMPA - Shells Seafood Restaurants is seeking to give up its quest to stay open, asking a federal bankruptcy judge to allow it to liquidate its assets.

In a new bankruptcy document filed Wednesday, the Tampa-based chain asks U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Catherine Peek McEwen to convert its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case to a Chapter 7 case, in which a company's assets are liquidated. In a Chapter 11 filing, a company typically seeks new financing or otherwise restructures under protection from its creditors.

In its motion to convert to a Chapter 7, Shells says it needs a "substantial capital infusion" to stay open during a brutal period in the casual dining restaurant industry. However, it has been unable to find such funding and has been unable to find a buyer to keep the company going.

Shells operates 10 restaurants in Florida. It previously had 18, but closed eight – including one in St. Petersburg – when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month. At least four of its Shells restaurants, as well as a fifth restaurant called Rock Beach Grill in South Florida, were not part of the original Sept. 3 bankruptcy filing.

A Shells representative was not immediately available for comment Wednesday, and the new filing doesn't make clear what will happen to the five restaurants.

Reporter Michael Sasso can be reached at (813) 259-7865 or msasso@tampatrib.com.

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