The Carlyle Group and Z Capital will gain control of Mrs. Fields in a debt for equity swap. The company has both Mrs. Fields and TCBY yogurt franchises. Founder Debbie Fields sold her company to private equity underwriter Capricorn Holdings in 1996. This will be Mrs. Fields second PEU bankruptcy in three years.
David Rubenstein strategized "back door" takeovers in the 2008 financial crisis. It took three years for Mrs. Fields to fall. How many tasty corporate morsels will Rubenstein down via debt holdings? Time will tell.