In one of the largest corporate bankruptcies filed in 2025, North Carolina-based chipmaker Wolfspeed Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection in the Southern District of Texas on Monday.
A manufacturer of semiconductors, Wolfspeed states in court filings that it has $4.6 billion in debt or liabilities, but that the company has reached a tentative deal with its largest creditor and customer, Japan-based Renesas Electronics, to swap $2 billion in debt for equity in the restructured company.
Wolfspeed reported that it is also negotiating with the private equity firm Apollo Global Management for a possible loan.
Wolfspeed General Counsel Melissa Garrett, a former lawyer practicing employment discrimination law at Paul Hastings and Jackson Lewis, has hired Latham & Watkins lawyers from New York and Houston lawyers from Hunton Andrews Kurth — Timothy (Tad) Davidson, Ashley Harper and Philip Guffy — as its legal advisors.
The company has hired FTI Consulting as its lead financial advisor and Perella Weinberg Partners as its investment banking firm.
Renesas has hired Kirkland & Ellis and Haynes Boone partner Charles Beckham.
The Wolfspeed bankruptcy has been assigned to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez in Houston.
The case is In re Wolfspeed Inc., SDTX Bankruptcy, No. 25-90163.