News Summary

Sonder Holdings, a Canadian-founded and San Francisco-based alternative lodging company, is winding down its operations after its licensing deal with Marriott International was terminated. The company plans to initiate Chapter 7 liquidation of its US business and start insolvency proceedings internationally. This decision follows severe financial constraints, delays in integrating with Marriott’s systems, and unexpected costs that led to a sharp revenue decline. Sonder spent nearly $3.7 million on the Marriott integration, but the deal’s termination resulted in cancelled bookings and operational shutdowns in locations like Ottawa. Earlier, Sonder’s co-founder and CEO Francis Davidson had left the company after securing the Marriott deal. The company, originally founded in Montréal in 2012, struggled post its public listing in 2022, with its stock price plummeting. Sonder’s interim CEO, Janice Sears, indicated that all efforts to find financial alternatives failed, necessitating the wind-down of operations.