The provisional administrators are asking the court to declare Mega World bankrupt. They don’t believe the company can be saved. It is possible that parts can be sold.
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Thierry Lammar and Kristin Van Hocht have summoned Mega World, the former Blokker Belgium, in bankruptcy before the corporate court of Mechelen. They have let the unions know. Lammar and Van Hocht were appointed temporary administrators by the corporate court on 2 November. Then Mega World’s application for protection against creditors was also declared inadmissible.
The temporary administrators were asked to check whether the bankruptcy conditions were met and to see how part of the retail chain could still be saved. For example, by going for a judicial reorganization, with the transfer of assets. In addition, the viable shops will be removed from the company and restarted.
But the latter option is possible since recent case law (the Plessers case), but if a sufficiently important part of the employment is saved. The idea is that this form of restart should not be used to leave the social liabilities (termination premiums and arrears of wages) in the bankruptcy estate as much as possible. At the restart, a sufficient part of the social liabilities must be resolved.
Can’t be saved
According to Lammar, the financial pit at Mega World is such that the company cannot be saved. He also does not expect that the judicial settlement can bring a solution. This is due to the Plessers judgment. Lammar expects that some of the stores can still be saved. ‘That happened with Brantano too. Then stores and employees were also taken over from the bankruptcy. ‘
Mega World has 122 stores and approximately 650 employees. Social elections took place earlier this week. ACV Puls, which went to the public prosecutor’s office in this file due to possible fraud at Mega World, emerged as the largest trade union. Marc Jacobs of ACV Puls regrets the summons in bankruptcy. He had hoped that the formula of protection against creditors (judicial reorganization) could bring a solution.
Alternative plan
He also feels that valuable time and opportunities have been lost with Dirk Bron. ‘The previous management had a plan to continue with a livable core of shops. Bron promised to save everything. Jacobs is convinced that those initial restructuring plans deserved a chance.
Lammar says that a few parties have already expressed interest in retail properties, which means that there may still be a limited restart. Because Blokker, the predecessor of Mega World has been active in Belgium for a long time and was a solid partner in the past, there are quite a few stores that are said to be in good locations and would be popular properties.
The summons in bankruptcy will be submitted to the court of appeal of the corporate court. It is not clear how quickly the case can be dealt with. On December 3, on the other hand, the appeal against the appointment of the administrators will be brought. If they are impeached, this has no impact on the summons in bankruptcy.
As is known, Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open VLD) wants to reintroduce a moratorium to prevent companies from being declared bankrupt by the second corona wave. This moratorium does not help Mega World because it does not cover companies that were already in bad shape.
Lammar and Van Hocht are also temporary administrators of Piocheur, the holding company above Mega World. Piocheur is also the company that has the most rental contracts with the landlords. It is expected that a summons in bankruptcy will also be requested for that company.
The smiling third person in the entire file is probably Michiel Witteveen of the Mirage Retail Group. He received a hefty check from the Blokker family (there is talk of more than 200 million euros) to give the Blokker group a new future in a neat way. That Witteveen Blokker entrusted Belgium to someone like Dirk Bron, is sometimes blamed on him. ‘When you do business with Witteveen there is always a catch,’ says a retailer.
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