In an attempt to restructure its debt worth $625 million, following its lapse in making an interest payment on $266 million of bonds, the under pressure flash memory maker Spansion Inc. Sunday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection along with its four US subsidiaries - Spansion LLC; Spansion International; Spansion Technology LLC; and Cerium Laboratories LLC.

Filing the documents in the US Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, the company listed $2.4 billion debt and $3.8 billion assets as of the end of the 2008 third quarter.

The bankruptcy decision by Spansion - founded in 1993 as a joint venture between chip-maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Fujitsu Ltd - came after its discussions with a lender group, which holds the company's senior secured floating rate notes owed in 2013.

On February 23, the Sunnyvale, California-based company - whose Japanese subsidiary last month filed for bankruptcy protection - announced its intentions of laying-off
35 percent of its employees, after it missed a second payment deadline on the notes.

Talking about the bankruptcy, Spansion President and CEO John Kispert, said in a statement on Sunday: "Given our focus on Spansion's future, management and the board have concluded that chapter 11 provides the most effective means for Spansion to preserve its business, meet its post-petition obligations and maintain customer confidence and continuity while we complete this restructuring."