Belgian retailer FNG NV is once again in financial trouble. On Friday, bankruptcy applications for the company and the associated companies FNG Finance Belgium BV and FNG Beheer NL BV were filed with the Mechelen-based branch of the Antwerp Company Court, the group announced. According to a statement, FNG is unable to service the claims of its creditors and implement its ongoing reform concept.
After high losses, the FNG Group had already had to apply for insolvency or creditor protection proceedings for numerous subsidiaries in the Benelux countries in the summer of 2020. Almost all of the group’s brands, including Miss Etam, Claudia Sträter, Expresso, Steps, Promiss and the shoe retail chain Brantano, were then sold to various investors. Ultimately, only the Swedish online retailer Ellos Group, which was acquired in autumn 2019, remained with the parent company. However, its potential company value is currently no longer sufficient to make the payments to the existing creditors agreed in a settlement procedure, explained FNG.
“Due in part to the global decline in the valuation of the e-commerce sector, the proceeds of a possible IPO or sale of the only asset, the Ellos Group, would now be significantly lower than would be required for the repayments to the creditors and the implementation of the sustainable restart that has been going on since 2020 would be necessary,” FNG admitted in a statement. Although the company recently examined “all possible options”, none of them are currently realistic due to the framework conditions and the timetable of a new settlement procedure. This situation made it impossible to continue the reform efforts and made the application for insolvency inevitable, the company explained: “Waiting longer would have led to additional costs for which there are currently no funds.”
The Ellos Group itself does not see itself affected by the insolvency. The company and its subsidiaries are “neither operationally nor financially dependent on the support of the parent company in Belgium,” said Hans Ohlsson, CEO of Ellos Group, in a statement. The Swedish e-commerce specialist operates “profitably and independently”, according to Ohlsson. The management is now examining “strategic options with the aim of providing the Ellos Group with the best possible conditions, financial structures and future opportunities”. The company operates the online shops Ellos, Jotex, Homeroom and Stayhard, which specialize in fashion and home furnishings.