Fashion retailer Forever 21 Inc filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday as it joined a growing list of brick-and-mortar players who have succumbed to the onslaught of e-commerce.

Since the start of 2017, more than 20 U.S. retailers, including Sears Holdings Corp and Toys 'R' Us, have filed for bankruptcy as more customers shift to online retailers such as Amazon Inc.

The company lists both assets and liabilities in the range of one billion U.S. dollars to 10 billion U.S. dollars, according to the court filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

The retailer said it received 275 million U.S. dollars in financing from its existing lenders with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. as agent, and 75 million U.S. dollars in new capital from TPG Sixth Street Partners, and certain of its affiliated funds.

With these funds, Forever 21 said it intends to operate business as usual and will focus on the profitable core part of its operations.

Meanwhile, the company plans to close most of its international locations in Asia and Europe, but will continue operations in Mexico and Latin America.

Founded in 1984, the retailer has 815 stores worldwide. Last week, it said it would exit Japan and close all 14 stores at the end of October.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP was serving as the company's legal adviser, Alvarez & Marsal advised on restructuring, and Lazard acted as its investment banker.

Founders borrowed money from their daughters

As Forever 21's international expansion started to lose money, its owners turned to their own children as a funding source.

Founders Jin Sook and Do Won Chang borrowed five million U.S. dollars in 2015 from the trusts for each of their adult daughters, Linda and Esther Chang, paying them two percent interest. Now the offspring are named as unsecured creditors of their parents' company in filings with Forever 21's bankruptcy, Bloomberg reported.

Details of the family loans provide a glimpse into the workings of a company that has operated in near-total privacy in its business dealings, even as its sales by 2014 topped four billion U.S. dollars. 

The loans coincide with an ill-fated global expansion that featured the launch of more than 200 stores globally between 2005 and 2015. The project had been champion by Do Won Chang, Forever 21's chief executive officer.

(With input from Reuters)