Avon Products Inc. (API) has filed for bankruptcy amid the numerous talc-related lawsuits the business is currently facing.
According to Avon, the U.S.-based "non-operational" holding company of the Avon beauty brand initiated Chapter 11 proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
In a press release, the company explained that the move was to "address its debt and legacy talc liabilities."
"Today's action and the proposed sale of Avon's non-U.S. operations will maximize the value of our assets and enable us to address our obligations in an orderly manner," Avon Products chairperson John Dubel said in a statement.
The beauty brand Avon was once a reputable direct sales company valued at $21 billion, thanks to its "army of door-to-door saleswomen," according to New York Post.
However, since 2016, API has not sold products in the U.S. after it divested its North American business.
Avon's non-U.S. operations continue and are not part of this Chapter 11 proceedings.
Natura & Co, the Brazil-based company that acquired Avon in 2020, agreed to pay $125 million for the equity interests in Avon's non-U.S. operations. They payment will come in the form of a credit bid.
The bankruptcy filing comes after more than 200 lawsuits were filed against Avon through the years, accusing the company of using cancer-causing talcum powder in products such as face powders and eyeshadows.
Lawsuits alleged that Avon sold talc-based products allegedly contaminated with asbestos, a substance linked to cancer.
In 2022, Avon was ordered by a court to pay an Arizona woman more than $50 million after she was diagnosed with cancer after using the company's makeup products with talc contaminated with asbestos.
In July, the beauty brand was also ordered to compensate a janitor working at its Illinois manufacturing plant $24.4 million after he was found to have mesothelioma -- a cancer affecting tissues around the heart and other internal organs.
Despite this, Avon originally denied that its talc products can cause cancer, insisting it uses "cosmetic grade talc."