(SGI) The Intersport Sverige group - alias Intersport Sweden - requested protection from its creditors through a “corporate reconstruction” procedure that has just been accepted by the Gothenburg County Council. The group filed an application for the proceedings on April 13, making them applicable also to its Löplabet chain of running shops. The company claimed in its request for protection from creditors that it basically has a sound core business but, like many other companies in the industry, has been hit hard by a recent sales decline in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, which has led to temporary payment difficulties and the prospect of unsustainable costs ahead. It added that some big suppliers and its bank have expressed their support for the proceedings. It’s not clear at this stage whether they might be asked to write off some of their receivables and credits, but all the creditors would have to receive equal treatment.
According to some local experts, however, the Covid-19 crisis has only accelerated an inevitable bankruptcy procedure which they had predicted several months ago, as the company’s current cash problems have been largely structural for some time.
More details including market insights by a Swedish retail expert, Magnus Ohlsson, in SGI Europe.
Photo: © Sebastian Wikström
