When popular footwear seller Toms Shoes LLC scored a $313 million investment from private equity giant Bain Capital back in 2014, the retailer was poised to grow in a serious way. Four years later, Toms is squirming under a load of debt and struggling to attract new shoppers, according to a Bloomberg News commentary. Earnings are down by more than half since the Bain deal, and the shoemaker is burning through cash, rating agencies warn. Last year, Toms replaced its longtime finance chief with Deb Rieger-Paganis, a director from corporate advisory and restructuring firm AlixPartners LLP. In December, the company asked Bain for an additional $18 million to support daily operations. While Toms booked $91 million of revenue in the fourth quarter, according to a person familiar with the data, only $8 million of it was profit. The revenue figure did represent an increase over the prior year, but it fell short of where investors thought Toms would be by now, according to the commentary.
