zombie company

plural zombie companies

1. businessA company that requires bailouts in order to operate, or an indebted company that is able to repay the interest on its debts but not repay the principal.

   Mostly, though, the people in a zombie company will be blissfully unaware that they are in the middle of a major business disaster until after it has unfolded.·

   2004, Sydney Finkelstein, Why Smart Executives Fail

   1 more example

   Pure zombie companies satisfy all the criteria to be considered zombi companies after adjusting the ICR and CLR ratios for the connected legal entities' financial expenses and short-term financial liabilitites.

   (Can we date this quote?), Branko Radulović, Stefan Dragutinović, “Did COVID-19 Relief Programs Reanimate Zombie Companies?”, in Marko Mihić, Sandra Jednak, Gordana Savić, editor, Proceedings of the XVIII International symposium Symorg 2022, page 211

   Synonyms: zombie business