Stoli USA put under trustee control
A US bankruptcy court has ordered the appointment of Chapter 11 trustees for Stoli USA and Kentucky Owl, halting efforts to convert the case to liquidation.
Stoli Group USA and its Kentucky Owl American whiskey unit voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2024 after suffering “financial difficulties” and a two-month-long cyberattack.
In January 2026, both the companies and the creditors’ committee filed motions seeking conversion to Chapter 7 liquidation.
In a new filing made in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, the judge has ordered the appointment of separate Chapter 11 trustees for Stoli USA and Kentucky Owl.
The appointment of trustees means that the current management will no longer be in control of the company. Independent professionals will be hired to run the business and manage its bank accounts.
The decision came after Stoli USA and Kentucky Owl’s main lender, Fifth Third Bank, opposed the move to Chapter 7.
As part of the settlement, motions to convert the cases to Chapter 7 liquidation were withdrawn, while objections to trustee appointments were dropped.
The court approved continued use of cash to cover operating expenses, taxes, professional fees and inventory-related costs, while extending key deadlines to mid-February 2026.
Through the agreement, a new fund has been created called the Stoli GUC Escrow, which will be used to pay unsecured creditors through future cash flows and potential litigation recoveries.
Stoli Group’s two US entities face potential sale of their assets or a restructure, which could still lead to liquidation.
The Spirits Business has contacted Stoli Group for comment.
Stoli Group said its financial crisis reflects decades of legal and geopolitical pressures, alongside operational disruption from a cyberattack.
Those tensions escalated sharply in recent years following Stoli’s public condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. After this, the Russian state designated the company an “extremist organisation” and seized one of its key distillery assets – a facility integral to global production.
Stoli Group is also facing a trademark lawsuit from Tabasco maker McIlhenny Company. It launched a jalapeño vodka in December, just a month before Absolut and Tabasco’s co-branded product was released.
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