The responsible district court in Düsseldorf has opened the self-administration proceedings of Peek & Cloppenburg KG, Düsseldorf.
The procedure was opened on June 1st, the Düsseldorf fashion retailer announced on Thursday. The court thus follows the recommendation of the provisional administrator. The members of the creditors’ committee unanimously approved self-administration.
“In the past few weeks and months, the company has laid the essential groundwork for the realignment,” said Markus Kier, partner in charge of the proceedings at the Piepenburg Rechtsanwälte law firm. “We support this course and continue to accompany the proceedings with a focus on the interests of the creditors.”
The restructuring plan is now the focus of the restructuring. The proceedings of Peek & Cloppenburg KG, Düsseldorf and the purchasing company Peek & Cloppenburg Retail Buying GmbH & Co. KG are to be completed before the end of the year.
“The development of the restructuring plan continues to run at full speed and with the involvement of debt and equity providers,” explains Dirk Andres, Managing Director of Restructuring. “We assume that the court appointments for discussion and voting on the plan have been prepared and completed over the summer.”
In the coming weeks, it will be determined whether there are other options in addition to the “company’s own solution”.
Job cuts “mostly implemented”
Peek & Cloppenburg has been in protective shield proceedings since the beginning of March and has since undertaken restructuring measures. This includes the reduction of 350 jobs in administration. This has already been “set up and largely already fully implemented”, according to Düsseldorf. The fashion retailer also parted ways with a large part of its management team – online boss Sven Bernhardt, logistics boss Ricardo Carballo, sales boss Melanie Kleemann, HR boss Carolin Schwarz, women’s fashion purchasing boss Henriette Tesch and board member John Cloppenburg.
“At the beginning of March 2023, we started the protective shield procedure in order to adapt Peek & Cloppenburg KG, Düsseldorf to the changed market conditions and to reposition it for the future,” says Managing Director Thomas Freude. “We are making good progress with our project.”
With the current opening decision, the insolvency money period ends and from June the salaries and wages of the employees will be paid in full again.