Chuck E. Cheese, the troubled restaurant chain and children’s party venue, is fielding interest from creditors and other potential suitors, according to people familiar with the matter, as some bricks-and-mortar establishments struggle to survive the coronavirus pandemic, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The chain, owned by private-equity firm Apollo Global Management Inc., has drawn interest from potential buyers including New York grocery magnate John Catsimatidis. Chuck E. Cheese’s parent company, CEC Entertainment Inc., is also in talks with a group of bondholders who have offered to invest more than $100 million in the company and keep it out of bankruptcy. Catsimatidis, who has scooped up some CEC bonds, is exploring a possible offer for the family-entertainment company. CEC is now reopening venues and planned to have 100 of its 741 Chuck E. Cheese and Peter Piper Pizza restaurants open by mid-June, according to a letter to employees sent last week by Chief Executive David McKillips. While the doors were closed, Chuck E. Cheese was burning too much cash to continue operating without raising additional capital, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Still, the company had enough of a cash cushion to keep its doors closed until the fall, Moody’s said. CEC has close to $1 billion in debt stemming from Apollo’s leveraged buyout in 2014, but faces no debt maturities until 2022. CEC’s top-ranking loans traded at about 59 cents on the dollar of face value on Friday, according to IHS Markit.
