Chicago Investment Firm to Run Debt-Ridden Nutri-System

A Chicago investment firm took over management of debt-ridden Nutri-System Inc. on Wednesday after a bankruptcy court judge dismissed a trustee appointed to run the weight-loss company.

Heico Acquisitions, a firm that invests in troubled companies, will run Nutri-System Inc. for about a month while deciding whether to buy it, former trustee John T. Carroll said.

The move resolves, at least for now, the financial chaos surrounding Blue Bell, Pa.-based Nutri-System. The firm closed 283 company-owned centers, halted shipments of prepackaged food and laid off 1,800 employees on April 27 after its banks seized its cash and bank accounts.

The crisis threatened 857 Nutri-System franchises, which rely on the company for the program’s prepackaged meals. Franchise owners forced the company into bankruptcy proceedings last week, which led to the resumption Tuesday of food shipments. The shipments continued Wednesday under Heico’s direction.