Tupperware avoids liquidation by having creditors acquire firm after judge intervenes

WASHINGTON Tupperware Brands hammered out a deal for its creditors to acquire the business, ending a dispute that has risked a liquidation of the iconic company after a push from the United States judge overseeing the bankruptcy.

An ad-hoc group of lenders and the bankrupt firm reached an agreement in principle, under which the lenders will purchase the business in cash and credit, according to Mr Spencer Winters, a lawyer representing the debtor at an Oct 22 hearing in Delaware.

The company faces more than US$800 million (S$1.05 billion) in unpaid debts. The lenders who were fighting Tupperware are owed more than US$460 million, giving them a majority of the company's long-term debt, according to court papers.

Both sides acknowledged the influence that Judge Brendan L.