The Belgian bus builder Van Hool was declared bankrupt on Monday and is now largely owned by the Eindhoven-based VDL. Together with the German Schmitz Cargobull, they are putting approximately 200 million euros on the table to take over the competitor.
The Enterprise Chamber in Mechelen ruled on bankruptcy on Monday morning. In a press conference by crisis manager Marc Zwaaneveld and curator Jeroen Pinoy, it was announced that the tandem VDL and Schmitz Cargobull have made a binding offer and further discussions are underway. With the takeover, VDL will own approximately two thirds, the rest will go to the Germans. How exactly the company will be divided is still under negotiation.
Quick restart
According to curator Pinoy, a restart will happen quickly. “We are not talking about a matter of weeks, but days so that the remaining staff can get to work immediately.” According to a VDL spokesperson, things will not progress that quickly. He expects that it will take ‘a few weeks’ for a restart. “VDL has made an offer for parts of the company. There are certain conditions attached. We first have to see whether these can be met and that takes time.”
Belgian media previously reported that between 1600 and 1800 jobs will disappear after a takeover of Van Hool by VDL and Schmitz Cargobull. This would leave only 600 to 800 of the 2,400 employees. This was confirmed at the press conference. “We know it is hard, but without a restart it would be even worse,” said the curator.
Previous potential buyers dropped out
Van Hool has a debt of approximately 300 million euros. Two other interested buyers of Van Hool dropped out last week:
- the Dutch trailer builder Vlastuin,
- the Dumarey Group of the Flemish entrepreneur Guido Dumarey, who is known in Belgium as ‘the business doctor’.
Van Hool, a direct competitor of VDL in Eindhoven, has been suffering from the consequences of corona, high energy costs, inflation and global problems with the supply of parts for some time. VDL recognizes the problems that Van Hool is facing and has them too, but is not in financial trouble.
Significantly lower profit
Last week, VDL from Eindhoven announced that profits had fallen sharply, but at the bottom line there was still a net profit of 82 million euros. A year earlier it was still 298 million euros.
The causes of the decline in profits: end of car production at the VDL Nedcar factory in Born and problems with the supply of buses due to material shortages.
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