The chances of a restart of Amslod are increasing. Three potential buyers have now come forward for the bankrupt bicycle manufacturer from Meppel.
Curator Ronald Klarus is confident that a buyer will be found and that some of the 83 employees may continue to work at the company. The curator expects that ‘significantly’ more than three buyers will eventually come forward.
The Amslod board blames the bankruptcy declared this week on lower investor confidence, after competitors such as Stella Fietsen previously went bankrupt. Fewer bicycles are also sold in the autumn than in the spring, which has caused liquidity problems.
As a result, Amslod was no longer able to pay employees’ wages in December. The curator’s priority is to quickly arrange with the UWV benefits agency that this will happen.
The curator also wants to find out how many people had brought their bicycles to one of the fourteen Amslod branches for maintenance before the company went bankrupt. There may be a time next month when they can pick up their bicycle. Klarus is also investigating how many people have outstanding orders and when they can expect a solution.
Amslod still has 4,000 bicycles in stock, which, according to the curator, is a good basis for a restart. That process should take shape sometime next month. Klarus estimates that Amslod is about a quarter the size of Stella, which managed to make a relaunch in a slimmed-down form at the beginning of this month.
Amslod’s stores will remain closed for the time being while the search for a candidate for a restart.