“Through a well-reasoned judgment, the court (…) noted the state of cessation of payments of the company Groupe Go Sport and opened proceedings in receivership,” said the Grenoble prosecutor’s office on Thursday.
The Grenoble Commercial Court on Thursday placed Groupe Go Sport, the parent company of the Go Sport stores, in receivership after noting the state of cessation of payment of the sporting goods distributor. “By a solidly reasoned judgment, the court (…) noted the state of suspension of payments of the company Groupe Go Sport and opened a procedure in receivership“, announced the parquet floor of Grenoble in a press release. He clarified that “Go Sport France has not been declared insolvent, but its situation will be impacted by that of its parent company“.
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This decision comes as the Grenoble prosecutor’s office opened an investigation in November 2022 for “abuse of social good“concerning Groupe Go Sport, after that”the auditors transmitted several revelations of criminal acts“. Regarding the receivership, the prosecution explained that “two administrators and two legal representatives have been appointed for an initial observation period of six months, in order to manage the company in the best interest of employees and creditors, under the control of judges and the public prosecutor’s office“.
2160 employees
In its decision, the court noted that Groupe Go Sport was in cessation of payments, citing the report of the firm Eight Advisory & Associés establishing on January 5 a liability amounting to more than 14 million euros.
At the end of December, after a first hearing, justice had given an investigating judge the mission of “make an accurate statement of the financial situationof the group and its subsidiary Go Sport France, with the help of its audit firms and its auditors.
The 2,160 employees in France of Go Sports were anxiously awaiting the decision, a few weeks after the liquidation of Camaïeu – which belonged to the same group (Hermione, People & Brands), the distribution arm of the Financière immobilière bordelaise (FIB), an investment fund of Bordeaux businessman Michel Ohayon.
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Union representatives and the central social and economic committee (CSEC) had questioned the financial health of the group, expressing alarm in particular over a rise of 36 million euros in cash from Go Sport to its parent company, the HPB group.