Friendly's franchisee J&B Restaurant Partners of Long Island II LLC and certain affiliates filed for chapter 11 protection yesterday as part of a pre-negotiated restructuring plan, Reuters reported today. J&B said that the filing will allow it to close unprofitable restaurants, reduce debt and quickly emerge from bankruptcy. The owner of 37 Friendly's restaurants in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut expects to exit bankruptcy over the next six months and to remodel at least 11 restaurants over three years. The company said that GE Capital Franchise Finance will provide a debtor-in-possession financing to enable normal operation. J&B listed assets of about $500,000 to $1 million and liabilities of $10 million to $50 million.
