Georgia-based global retail product label maker Multi-Color Corp. filed for Chapter 11 protection Thursday in a New Jersey bankruptcy court with an agreement in place to trim $3.9 billion of its $5.9 billion in debt.

Multi-Color, which claims the largest footprint of any labeling company in the world, said it expects its restructuring plan will allow it to keep operating through the bankruptcy case. (iStock.com/Gumpanat) In an announcement Thursday, the company said it reached a deal two days ago with the holders of nearly three-quarters of its first-line debt on a restructuring plan and $250 million in Chapter 11 financing it said will be sufficient to keep the business operating through the bankruptcy case.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Multi-Color prints labels for retail products, including food and beverage, home products and pharmaceuticals, in 90 facilities across 25 countries, claiming the largest footprint of any labeling company in the world, according to its court filings.

Founded in 1916, in 2021 it was acquired by private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice and merged with commercial printer Fort Dearborn Co.

It said its debt consisted of just under $4.8 billion in secured credit facilities, term loans, notes and leases, and just over $1.1 billion in unsecured notes.

In his first-day declaration, Chief Restructuring Officer Garrett Gabel said the company's liquidity became strained and its debt unsustainable thanks to industry instability started by the COVID-19 pandemic. He said during the pandemic it had seen increased demand coupled with supply chain issues and rising material and labor costs, only for demand to crash in 2024 as companies reduced their inventories of packaged goods.

In response, the company laid off employees and reduced inventory, but "ongoing management turnover and a lack of quality, data-driven insights" led to a 14% drop in revenue between 2022 and the end of 2025, he said. While the company began corrective actions in 2024, the order cycle for labels is one to two years, meaning revenue is expected to continue to decline through this year, he said.

The company began talks with creditors in September, and facing a default on $690 million in unsecured notes reached a restructuring support agreement with CD&R and the holders of 72% of its first-line debt for a plan to cut $3.9 billion in debt with refinancing and debt-for-equity exchanges.

The deal also includes debtor-in-possession financing consisting of $250 million in new money and a $400 million rollup of pre-petition debt.

Multi-Color has retained Evercore as its investment banker and AlixPartners as its financial adviser.

The debtor is represented by Steven N. Serajeddini, Rachael M. Bentley, Peter A. Candel and Ashley L. Surinak of Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Michael D. Sirota, Warren A. Usatine, and Felice R. Yudkin of Cole Schotz PC.

The case is In re: Multi-Color Corp., case number 3:26-bk-10910, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.