After months of dozens of restaurant closings and headlines about “endless shrimp” woes, Red Lobster says it will soon exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved the casual seafood chain’s reorganization plan, which includes a lender group led by asset manager Fortress acquiring the business. The green light arrives under just four months after Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy protection as it pursued a sale, following years of mounting losses and dwindling customers while it struggled to keep up with competitors.

At the time of filing in May, Red Lobster’s leadership shared plans to “simplify the business” through a reduction of locations. The chain, which lost $76 million in 2023, shuttered dozens of its North American restaurants over recent months — both leading up to and during the bankruptcy process. That includes more than 50 locations whose equipment was put up for auction just days before the Chapter 11 petition, followed by additional closures throughout the bankruptcy process.

Red Lobster said Thursday that it expects to operate about 544 locations across the U.S. and Canada upon emerging from bankruptcy. That’s down from 578 disclosed as of May’s bankruptcy filing.

Under terms of the acquisition, which is expected to close by the end of September, the chain will continue to operate as an independent company.

Damola Adamolekun, former chief executive of P.F. Chang’s.

Most of Wall Street slips as S&P 500 stays on track for worst week since April

Most U.S. stocks fell Thursday following a mixed round of data on the economy, keeping them on track for their worst week since April.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% for a third straight drop, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 219 points, or 0.5%. The Nasdaq composite held up better than the rest of the market and added 0.3% thanks to gains for Tesla and a handful of other Big Tech stocks.

Treasury yields also slipped a bit in the bond market following the mixed economic reports. One suggested U.S. companies slowed their hiring last month, falling well short of economists’ forecasts for an acceleration. Another report, though, said fewer U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week than expected. That’s an indication layoffs remain low.

A report released later in the morning offered more optimism, saying growth for businesses in the finance, health care and other services industries was stronger last month than economists expected.

“Generally, business is good,” one respondent said in the survey compiled by the Institute for Supply Management. “However, there are concerns of slowing foot traffic at restaurants and other venues where our products are sold.”

Stocks have struggled this week after another dud of a report on U.S. manufacturing reignited worries about the slowing U.S. economy and how much it could hurt corporate profits. That has raised the stakes for a highly anticipated report scheduled for Friday.