QVC files for Chapter 11 with $5.3 billion debt cut plan

QVC Group, Inc. filed for voluntary Chapter 11 chapter safety on April 16, 2026, within the U.S. Chapter Court docket for the Southern District of Texas, triggering a prepackaged restructuring course of designed to chop the corporate’s whole funded debt from roughly $6.6 billion to $1.3 billion. The case is docketed as Case No. 26-90447 and has been assigned to the Honorable Decide Alfredo R. Perez.

The submitting covers QVC Group and 72 of its U.S. subsidiaries, together with QVC, Inc. and HSN, Inc. Worldwide operations – together with customer-facing enterprise in the UK, Germany, Japan, and Italy – will not be included within the course of. A non-operating subsidiary in Luxembourg is the only abroad entity drawn into the U.S. proceedings.

The restructuring help settlement

The transfer follows the signing of a Restructuring Help Settlement, or RSA, dated April 16, 2026, with holders representing a big majority of the corporate’s excellent funded debt. In keeping with the RSA, QVC Group’s principal quantity of debt as of December 31, 2025, will probably be lowered from roughly $6.6 billion to $1.3 billion, and the restructured firm will emerge as Reorganized QVC, Inc.

JPMorgan Chase Financial institution, N.A. serves as each the executive agent underneath the revolving credit score facility and because the debtor-in-possession letter of credit score agent. The revolving credit score facility carries an excellent principal stability of roughly $2,900,000,000 as of the petition date. QVC senior secured notes throughout a number of tranches account for roughly $2,146,000,000 in further funded debt. Liberty Interactive LLC, the authorized title for the LINTA debtor group, carries its personal word obligations together with 8.250% and eight.500% senior unsecured debentures in addition to 3.750% and 4.000% senior unsecured exchangeable debentures due 2029 and 2030 respectively.

The plan contemplates new exit financing to exchange the present capital construction. In keeping with the filed reorganization plan, exit financing will include as much as $750 million underneath a brand new asset-based lending facility, plus Takeback Debt with an mixture unique principal quantity of $1.275 billion – rising to $1.325 billion if the exit ABL facility has no minimal draw situation. Alternatively, the debtors might exchange the Takeback Debt with a syndicated exit financing of equal principal dimension if market circumstances enable.

What fairness holders obtain – and what they lose

Underneath the plan, holders of QVC senior secured notes and revolving credit score facility lenders will share professional rata in what the plan paperwork name the QVC Funded Debt Plan Consideration: the distributable money remaining after satisfying senior obligations, plus 100% of the brand new fairness pursuits in Reorganized QVC, topic to dilution by a administration incentive plan of as much as 10% of absolutely diluted shares. Common unsecured collectors are categorized as unimpaired underneath the plan and will probably be paid in full or have their claims reinstated. Distributors and suppliers are accordingly anticipated to obtain cost in full for items and companies offered earlier than and after the submitting date.

Holders of present QVCG most well-liked fairness pursuits and customary fairness pursuits obtain nothing. Each lessons are cancelled, launched, and extinguished upon the plan’s efficient date. Part 510(b) claimants throughout all debtor teams equally obtain no restoration.

The intercompany construction includes an inside settlement that the plan calls the Intercompany Settlement. In keeping with the filed plan paperwork, the QVC-QVCG Settlement Declare is allowed within the fastened quantity of $400 million. The LINTA debtors – the Liberty Interactive LLC group – will obtain a money contribution of $23,281,033.70 from non-LINTA debtors, known as the LINTA Settlement Money Pool, to fund distributions to LINTA noteholders. LINTA’s distributable money additionally contains $88,060,000 held by the LINTA debtors as of the petition date, lowered by restructuring bills {and professional} payment reserves.

The reorganized firm will pursue a list of latest fairness pursuits on a nationwide change – the New York Inventory Change or Nasdaq – or, if itemizing necessities can’t be met instantly, on the OTCID Primary Market operated by OTC Markets Group.

The schedule

The primary day listening to was held on April 17, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. Central Time earlier than Decide Perez. A last listening to on sure first day motions is scheduled for Might 8, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. Central Time. The voting deadline and opt-out/opt-in deadline for the plan are each set for Might 19, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Central Time. The mixed listening to to contemplate adequacy of the disclosure assertion and affirmation of the plan is scheduled for Might 26, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. Central Time. As of April 26, 2026, the plan has not but been confirmed by the courtroom. In keeping with the corporate, your entire course of is predicted to conclude inside roughly 90 days of the April 16 submitting date.

Kroll Restructuring Administration LLC is serving because the claims, noticing, and solicitation agent underneath the Prime Clerk model. Case filings are accessible at restructuring.ra.kroll.com/QVC.

The authorized groups

Kirkland & Ellis LLP, with companions Joshua A. Sussberg and Aparna Yenamandra in New York and Chad J. Husnick and Gabriela Z. Hensley in Chicago, is serving as lead restructuring counsel for the debtors. Grey Reed, with Jason S. Brookner and Lydia R. Webb in Houston, serves as Texas co-counsel. Evercore Group L.L.C. is serving as monetary advisor. AlixPartners, LLP is serving as restructuring advisor. Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher is dealing with strategic communications.

The LINTA noteholder group is represented by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. The QVC noteholder group is represented by Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. The revolving credit score facility lender group is represented by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP.

A decade of structural decline

QVC was based in 1986 and grew to broadcast to over 90 million American houses on cable tv. Its then-parent Liberty Interactive acquired the Residence Purchasing Community in July 2017 for $2.1 billion. The holding firm rebranded from Liberty Interactive to Qurate Retail Group in 2018, then once more to QVC Group on February 21, 2025.

The enterprise mannequin was constructed on linear tv distribution. That distribution base has been eroding for years. As PPC Land documented before the filing, whole QxH clients – excluding TikTok Store consumers – fell from 7.881 million in September 2024 to 7.000 million in September 2025. In Q3 2025, whole income fell 6% in fixed foreign money, reaching $2.2 billion for the quarter. The QxH phase posted a 7% income decline. QVC Worldwide dropped 5% in fixed foreign money. Cornerstone Manufacturers fell 8%. Free money move for the primary 9 months of 2025 was a use of $184 million, in comparison with a supply of $102 million in the identical interval of 2024.

The corporate recorded impairment costs of $2.395 billion within the first half of 2025 – $930 million towards the QVC and HSN tradenames, and $1.465 billion towards the goodwill of the QxH reporting unit. Whole fairness stood at adverse $2.975 billion as of September 30, 2025, with whole belongings of $7.560 billion towards whole liabilities of $10.535 billion. The corporate carried over $1 billion in home money and money equivalents as of December 31, 2025, which it says offers it ample liquidity to function by means of the restructuring course of.

The WIN Progress Technique

QVC Group’s response to the cable decline has been a three-year plan it calls the WIN Progress Technique. In keeping with the corporate, the technique targets clients Wherever She Retailers, engages them with Inspiring Individuals and Merchandise, and pursues working efficiencies by means of New Methods of Working.

The outcomes thus far are partial. In keeping with the press launch issued on April 16, 2026, QVC Group acquired almost 1 million new U.S. clients on TikTok Store in 2025, main QVC US to develop its whole buyer file in 2025 for the primary time in over 4 years. The QVC+ and HSN+ streaming service now has 1.5 million month-to-month energetic customers, and gross sales attributed to streaming grew 19% in 2025. The corporate has additionally struck new offers with social and media companions and rebalanced sourcing to account for tariff adjustments.

David Rawlinson, President and Chief Government Officer, said within the April 16 press launch: “QVC Group is uniquely positioned to compete and win in reside social purchasing, and we’re seeing early momentum in our WIN Progress Technique. Over the previous yr, we now have turn into a high vendor on TikTok Store U.S. whereas increasing our enterprise on streaming and different platforms. We’ve got consolidated our HSN and QVC operations, struck new offers with vital social and media companions, and rebalanced sourcing to account for the altering tariff surroundings. With the help of our lenders and a extra acceptable capital construction, we consider we are able to ship on our WIN Progress Technique.”

What this implies for the advertising and promoting neighborhood

The QVC submitting is a large-scale illustration of a structural shift that the advertising trade has been monitoring carefully. QVC spent 4 a long time constructing viewers attain by means of linear cable distribution – a channel the place viewership was largely passive and assured by the cable bundle. That channel is now contracting quickly.

PPC Land’s coverage of retail media and CTV convergence has documented how the reside purchasing format QVC pioneered is discovering new audiences elsewhere – on TikTok, on streaming platforms, on social feeds – however reaching these audiences requires intentional, paid media placement reasonably than the default attain that cable as soon as offered. The viewers that when watched QVC by default now must be discovered by means of programmatic channels, social promoting, and search. Meaning each interplay is a media value, not a programming value.

QVC’s personal TikTok success illustrates the chance and the problem concurrently. Practically 1 million new U.S. clients acquired by means of TikTok Store in a single yr demonstrates that reside purchasing as a format has demand on social platforms. However TikTok Store attain is bought or competed for, not given. The associated fee construction is essentially completely different from legacy cable carriage. An organization carrying $6.6 billion in debt from the cable period can not simply take up the margin compression that comes with social platform distribution.

For manufacturers that offered by means of QVC and HSN, the restructuring carries a sensible query: what occurs to vendor relationships throughout the 90-day course of? In keeping with the RSA, all third-party normal unsecured collectors will probably be paid in full for items and companies offered earlier than and after the submitting date. The plan classifies normal unsecured claims towards the QVC debtors as unimpaired. Vendor confidence on this dedication seems to be a deliberate design function of the prepackaged construction, which sought lender help earlier than submitting exactly to reduce operational disruption.

The plan additionally preserves all worker compensation and advantages packages. In keeping with the filed plan paperwork, all employment agreements and compensation and profit plans are handled as executory contracts assumed on the efficient date. There aren’t any deliberate layoffs or furloughs related to the monetary restructuring.

For advertisers shopping for media on QVC and HSN channels, operations are persevering with with out interruption. The corporate continues to achieve greater than 200 million houses worldwide through 15 tv channels and serves clients throughout streaming, social, e-commerce, and catalog. These attain numbers, nonetheless, replicate a mixture of assured cable subscribers and streaming viewers that’s more and more weighted towards the latter – a much less predictable and extra contested viewers.

The $1.3 billion in remaining debt that emerges from the restructuring will nonetheless have to be serviced by a enterprise producing declining income throughout its legacy channels. The wager embedded within the plan is that social and streaming progress – TikTok Store clients, QVC+ month-to-month energetic customers, streaming gross sales up 19% in 2025 – can offset legacy decline quick sufficient to make the post-restructuring debt load manageable.

Timeline

• 1986 – QVC based and begins broadcasting on cable tv
• July 2017 – Liberty Interactive acquires the Residence Purchasing Community for $2.1 billion
• 2018 – Liberty Interactive rebrands to Qurate Retail Group
• February 21, 2025 – Qurate Retail Group rebrands to QVC Group
• 2025 – QVC US grows total customer file for first time in over four years, driven by TikTok Shop; QVC+ and HSN+ streaming reaches 1.5 million month-to-month energetic customers
• Q3 2025 – Whole income falls 6% in fixed foreign money to $2.2 billion for the quarter; free money move is a use of $184 million for the primary 9 months
• H1 2025 – Firm data $2.395 billion in impairment costs towards tradenames and goodwill
• September 30, 2025 – Whole fairness reaches adverse $2.975 billion; whole liabilities are $10.535 billion
• March 31, 2026 – QVC Group misses annual submitting deadline; recordsdata Kind 12b-25 with the SEC disclosing going-concern doubt and $6.6 billion in debt
• April 16, 2026 – QVC Group and 72 U.S. subsidiaries signal RSA with majority lenders; file voluntary Chapter 11 petitions within the Southern District of Texas; PPC Land’s prior analysis of the cable decline behind the filing
• April 17, 2026 – First day listening to held earlier than Decide Alfredo R. Perez; Joint Prepackaged Plan of Reorganization and Disclosure Assertion filed
• Might 8, 2026 – Ultimate listening to on sure first day motions scheduled (11:00 a.m. CT)
• Might 19, 2026 – Voting deadline and opt-out/opt-in deadline (11:59 p.m. CT)
• Might 26, 2026 – Mixed listening to on disclosure assertion adequacy and plan affirmation scheduled (9:00 a.m. CT)
• ~July 2026 – Goal emergence as Reorganized QVC, Inc. (roughly 90 days from submitting)

Abstract

Who: QVC Group, Inc. and 72 U.S. subsidiaries, together with QVC, Inc. and HSN, Inc., are the submitting entities. Kroll Restructuring Administration LLC serves as claims and solicitation agent. Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Grey Reed, Evercore, and AlixPartners advise the debtors. Majority lenders are occasion to the RSA.

What: A prepackaged Chapter 11 chapter submitting designed to scale back the corporate’s funded debt from roughly $6.6 billion to $1.3 billion. Lenders and noteholders will obtain new fairness in Reorganized QVC, Inc. plus out there distributable money. All normal unsecured collectors will probably be paid in full. Present fairness is cancelled.

When: The voluntary petitions had been filed on April 16, 2026. The Restructuring Help Settlement can also be dated April 16, 2026. The plan was filed April 17, 2026. The mixed affirmation listening to is about for Might 26, 2026. Emergence is focused inside roughly 90 days.

The place: The instances are pending earlier than america Chapter Court docket for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, earlier than the Honorable Decide Alfredo R. Perez. QVC Group’s company headquarters is positioned at 1200 Wilson Drive, West Chester, Pennsylvania 19380.

Why: QVC Group collected $6.6 billion in debt whereas its core distribution channel – linear cable tv – contracted structurally. Whole QxH clients fell almost 900,000 year-over-year. Income declined each quarter throughout each phase. Impairment costs of $2.395 billion within the first half of 2025 mirrored the diminished worth of the QVC and HSN manufacturers within the cable period. The corporate is betting {that a} lighter stability sheet mixed with its rising TikTok Store and streaming enterprise will enable it to compete in reside social purchasing.