WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) -- Merisant Worldwide Co., the maker of Equal and other sweeteners, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday.
The Chicago-based company's subsidiaries include Equal maker Merisant Co. The parent company entered bankruptcy protection Friday with assets of $331.1 million and total debt of $560.7 million.
It made the filings Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of Delaware.
In the filings, Merisant says its board decided that seeking bankruptcy protection was in the best interest of the company.
According to its Web site, Merisant was formed in March 2000 to make and market tabletop sweeteners like Equal.
The company has more than 400 employees around the world.