SIMI VALLEY, Calif., June 15 (UPI) — Ronco Corp., the California company that brought TV shoppers the Veg-O-Matic and the Pocket Fisherman, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The company declared it had $32.7 million in debts and $13.9 million in assets, The Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

Ron Popeil, who sold Ronco two years ago for $55 million, is owed $11.8 million, the company said in Thursday’s filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Woodland Hills, Calif. Other creditors include the Food Network, Court TV and QVC home shopping network.

The Simi Valley company will continue operations, and none of its 95 employees wil be furloughed, Ronco Chief Executive John Reiland said. A Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection permits a business to keep running while it structures a debt payment plan.

While Reiland wouldn’t say what led to Ronco filing for bankruptcy again — it filed once in the 1980s — court documents said an initial $40 million payment to Popeil left the company’s finances in a bind.

The company has reached a non-binding agreement with a new buyer, but Reiland wouldn’t say who that is, the Times said.