The bell group is about to end. The Pforzheim-based mail-order group, which filed for bankruptcy for three of its subsidiaries in May 2023, will cease operations at the end of January, the Klingel Group announced on Monday. As a result, Managing Director Sven Axel Groos and Chief Data Officer Sven Christian Andrä will leave the company.
Despite intensive efforts, it was not possible to find investors for the group. A permanent continuation without an investor: inside solution is not possible. In view of the difficult industry and company situation, interested parties are not willing to invest in the group of companies as a whole and to continue this on the basis of the restructuring concepts that have been worked out.
No rescue for the group
“In the past few months we have taken numerous measures and examined all restructuring options for the Klingel Group,” said the Group’s management. Various restructuring concepts had been worked out and some had already been implemented in the spring, but the group continued to make losses despite “considerable cost reductions”. In the past few weeks it has become clear that a significant improvement in the company’s situation cannot be achieved in the short term, even if business has recently recovered. “We would have needed a financially strong investor to maintain the group as a whole, but unfortunately there is no investor solution, so it was decided to stop operations. This decision was not easy for any of us, but unfortunately there is no alternative,” explained the management.
As a result, the creditors’ committee, with the consent of the administrator, decided to discontinue the activities. Schneider GmbH & Co. KG is not affected by the cessation of business operations. Schneider, a subsidiary of the main company K – Mail Order GmbH & Co. KG, is also in self-administration proceedings. However, discussions with investors are currently ongoing to enable the company to be preserved.
Future for individual brands
There could also be a future for the individual brands such as Klingel, Wenz, Mona and Babista, and the online shops of the Klingel Group. According to the announcement, there are some interested parties who want to continue operating them under their own management from the beginning of 2024. Discussions about the acquisition of the trademark rights, online shops, customer lists and all other assets are currently underway, but there will be no transfer of business.
In the coming months, the Klingel Group will be managed by Chief Restructuring Officer Marcus Katholing, who was appointed in March, and CFO Cord Henrik Schmidt, because the insolvency proceedings under self-administration that opened on August 1st are continuing, as are business operations. The salaries of the more than 1,300 employees of K – Mail Order GmbH & Co. KG are secured for the coming months. In the past few days, talks have also been held with employee representatives. A social plan and a settlement of interested parties were decided, according to the announcement. According to this, a “socially acceptable solution was achieved for the employees” and the employees should receive support when looking for a job.
At the beginning of the procedure, K – Mail Order GmbH & Co. KG employed around 1,600 people after the start of the procedure, but according to their own statements almost three hundred left the company “at their own request”.