French clothing webshop 3 Suisses has applied for and been granted protection against creditors in a move that, for once, seems to have nothing to do with the current coronavirus crisis.
Not due to lockdown
3 Suisses is now able to benefit from protection against creditors in order to allow for a reshuffling of its historic debt of ten million euros, originating from the webshop’s former owners and taken over by ShopInvest upon its acquisition of 3 Suisses a year and a half ago.
“The coronavirus crisis is not the cause”, ShopInvest’s Karine Schrenzel says: on the contrary, 3 Suisses claims to have experienced strong growth while physical stores were forced to close. After the announcement of the lockdown, a slowdown in activity occurred in the last two weeks of March, but e-commerce seems to have picked up again very quickly in April.
The e-commerce business is profitable and is still backed by its suppliers, Schrenzel adds: the company filed for debt protection not to have its debts cancelled, but merely as a way to renegotiate the terms and to defer repayment, the ShopInvest CEO tries to reassure creditors.
