RadioShack files for bankruptcy, announces plan to sell stores

RadioShack Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday, three days after the New York Stock Exchange began moving to delist the struggling electronics retailer’s shares.

Also Thursday, the company said General Wireless Inc. has agreed to buy 1,500 to 2,400 of the approximately 4,000 U.S. stores RadioShack owns. RadioShack seeks to close the remainder of those stores.

“Discussions are underway with interested parties to sell all of the company’s remaining assets,” the Fort Worth company said in a statement.

Sprint has agreed to establish a “store within a store” presence in up to 1,750 of the RadioShack stores that General Wireless buys, pending further negotiations and court approval, RadioShack said.

The company said it plans to continue day-to-day operations during the restructuring.

In its filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, RadioShack said that as of Nov. 1, it had about $1.2 billion in assets and $1.4 billion in debts. The filing says the biggest group of unsecured creditors is represented by Wilmington Trust, to which it owes about $330 million. Sprint PCS, the second-biggest unsecured creditor, is owed $6 million, the filing says.

------------

FOR THE RECORD

Feb. 6, 12:35 p.m.: An earlier version of this article identified Wilmington Trust as a creditor. Wilmington Trust is a trustee that is representing a group of creditors.

------------

The bankruptcy filing and deals announced Thursday do not affect RadioShack’s Asia operations, the stores run by its Mexican subsidiary or the more than 1,000 RadioShack franchise stores in 25 countries, the company said.

In its most recent earnings report, covering the 13 weeks that ended Nov. 1, RadioShack posted a net loss of $161.1 million. The last time it posted a profit was in 2011.

The company warned last September that it might file for bankruptcy.

For more news, follow @raablauren on Twitter.