• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, December 12, 2018

I didn’t see this coming. But then, I wasn’t paying close attention either.

Catalina Marketing, best known for its cash register coupons, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it undertakes a restructuring. It has been a force in the analog couponing world for 30-plus years but has been challenged (obviously) with its digital transformation.

It seems that the company knew what was coming in October when it announced a new CEO—Jerry Sokol.

At the time the company described Sokol as “a turnaround expert with diverse experience transforming businesses, restructuring debt and developing entrepreneurial executives.”  Sokol, the firm added, “intends to swiftly accelerate Catalina’s emergence as a digital leader that sits squarely at the intersection of marketing, analytics and technology.”

I guess it remains to be seen how swiftly. Some Chapter 11 proceedings take months while others take years and sometimes devolve into liquidation (Chapter 7) proceedings. We’ll see.

Bloomberg News reported last month that a Chapter 11 filing was likely and reported the details today which you can read here.