A Belgian court has turned down the unions’ demand to appoint a temporary management at retailer FNG, meaning the current management can continue.
No more trust
The unions had declared to have no more trust in FNG’s founders, after it became apparent that they might have been rather creative in keeping the books, and demanded they be replaced by an external group of experts. The court has now decided to refuse that demand.
The court case had become rather academic anyway, as FNG has already appointed a new management, cutting the ties with the three founders. That new management has now received the court’s trust to start organising the reorganisation at the Belgian retailer. New CEO Paul Lembrechts has promised to come up with a plan to save the company in the next week.
His task has just been made a bit easier, as the CEO secured a payment delay for bonds worth 45 million euros. However, another 20 million needs to be repaid by 31 July – millions that the groep just does not have any more. Another burning issue is the selling of parts of the company in order to raise some much-needed money: rumours circulate about “a couple of interested parties”, mostly for Scandinavian e-tailer Ellos.
