The online sporting goods retailer Signa Sports United NV (SSU) is in serious financial difficulties a few days after the withdrawal of a financing commitment by the main shareholder Signa Holding GmbH.
On Friday, SSU announced that its subsidiary Tennis-Point GmbH had filed for bankruptcy. But it won’t stay that way: preparations to initiate insolvency proceedings are already underway for other parts of the group, including the umbrella company Signa Sports United NV, explained the Berlin-based group of companies. The relevant applications should therefore be submitted to the responsible courts over the next few days.
At the beginning of the week, major shareholder Signa Holding withdrew its financing commitment
On Monday, major shareholder and former parent company Signa Holding cut off its financial support for the e-commerce group. The company had withdrawn a binding commitment to provide SSU with 150 million euros over the next two years to finance its business activities. As a result, the necessary funds are now missing to “cover operational financial needs,” SSU admitted on Friday.
The group of companies, which, in addition to Tennis-Point, includes other well-known online sporting goods retailers such as Tennispro, Fahrrad.de, Bikester and Campz, had recently posted high losses and announced drastic reforms. The plan is therefore to separate unprofitable business areas. For cost reasons, it was decided to withdraw from the New York Stock Exchange at the beginning of the month. The company only completed its IPO at the end of 2021.