Weightwatchers recordsdata for chapter as Ozempic and Mounjaro surge in reputation
WeightWatchers has filed for chapter within the US because it struggles with debt and fierce competitors from fat-loss jabs like Ozempic and Mounjaro.
The authorized course of will see $1.15bn (£860mn) of the 60-year-old food regimen model’s debt written off whereas it agrees new phrases for paying again its lenders.
WeightWatchers stated it is going to stay “absolutely operational” in the course of the course of with “no affect to members”.
It follows the meteoric rise in reputation of weight reduction injections in what the agency stated was a “quickly altering weight administration panorama”.
“For greater than 62 years, WeightWatchers has empowered hundreds of thousands of members to make knowledgeable, wholesome decisions, staying resilient as tendencies have come and gone,” stated chief govt Tara Comonte.
The plans have “the overwhelming help of our lenders”, she stated.
In a press release, the model stated its weight-loss programme, “telehealth” scheme, and weight-loss workshops will proceed.
The corporate vowed that it was “right here to remain” and that it was not going out of enterprise.
It stated it had a “important quantity of debt on its steadiness sheet, a few of it courting again many years” and that submitting for chapter would enable it to restructure its steadiness sheet.
Some prospects would get court docket notifications as a part of the method, however they should not must take any motion, the agency added.
WeightWatchers started as weekly weight-loss help group assembly with 400 attendees, and ultimately gained hundreds of thousands of members throughout the globe.
However demand for its programmes has dropped whereas the recognition of weight-loss medication resembling Wegovy and Zepbound has risen – though the model does promote weight drugs as a part of its programmes.
In February Ms Comonte stated WeightWatchers may assist folks searching for “sustainable” weight reduction after coming off medicine.
“On the identical time, WeightWatchers is in a interval of great transition as we navigate trade shifts and reposition our enterprise for long-term development,” she stated on the time.
The model reported a internet lack of $346m (£260m) final 12 months, whereas its subscription revenues fell 5.6% in contrast with the 12 months earlier than.
On Tuesday, it reported that subscription revenues within the first three months of 2025 have been down 9.3% – though its scientific enterprise, which incorporates weight-loss medicine, noticed revenues up greater than 57%.
The model’s whole liabilities of $1.88bn are larger than the worth of its property. It stated it “expects [the] reorganisation plan to be confirmed in roughly 40 days and to emerge as a publicly traded firm.”
WeightWatchers renamed itself “WW” in 2018 because it shifted to deal with selling well being past weight-loss.
