BANGKOK — The Thai owner of the Miss Universe pageant, which was once part of former US president Donald Trump's business empire, has filed for bankruptcy a year after buying it for $20m (£16.4m).

JKN Global Group has said it would try to resolve a "liquidity problem".

Its chief executive officer, Anne Jakapong Jakrajutatip, is a transgender woman whose purchase came as the pageant became more inclusive.

But the firm has loaded up on debt which it seeks to restructure.

"The company can continue its operation while being under the rehabilitation plan," JKN said.

Funding for the deal was raised through bonds but the firm missed a repayment deadline of around $12m which was due on 1 September.

In the past year, JKN's share price has fallen by more than 80%.

The Thai Bankruptcy Court has set the hearing date for the petition for business rehabilitation on 29 January, according to the firm.

Under the ownership of JKN, the pageant has allowed mothers and married women to participate in the contest from this year.

The revised format will also feature at least two trans women for the first time after Marina Machete became the first transgender woman to win Miss Portugal and Rikkie Valerie Kolle was crowned Miss Netherlands in July.

The annual Miss Universe pageant, with a history spanning seven decades, is broadcast in more than 165 countries.

The Miss Universe Organization was co-owned by Trump from 1996 to 2015.

The former US president sold the company after two television partners said they would not broadcast the pageant, over comments Trump made about illegal immigrants on his 2016 presidential campaign.

He was also criticised when former Miss Universe Alicia Machado claimed Trump called her "Miss Piggy".

The remarks were made when she put on weight after winning contest in 1996, the Venezuela-born model said.

"When I purchased the pageants many years ago, they were in serious trouble," Trump said in a statement following the company's sale to US talent agency WME-IMG in 2015.

"It has been a great honour making them so successful. The pageants are now in the hands of a great company that will shepherd them to even greater levels of success." — BBC