The goal is restructuring: fashion chain Adler files for bankruptcy

Refurbishment is the goal
Fashion chain Adler files for bankruptcy

In May, Adler Modemärkte AG was still trying to get through the crisis with loans via a state guarantee, but the company no longer survived the second lockdown. The fashion retailer files for bankruptcy.

The cheap fashion retailer Adler Modemärkte slips into bankruptcy. The company from Haibach near Aschaffenburg cited the forced closure of almost all 171 stores in the corona pandemic since December as the reason for the bankruptcy. This has led to another slump in sales and a liquidity gap, explained Adler on Sunday evening. It was not possible to get fresh money from investors or state aid.

Adler fashion stores 2.30

"The renewed Corona-related closure of almost all locations unfortunately left us no other choice," said CEO Thomas Freude. "We will do everything we can to maintain business operations and to restructure Adler as quickly as possible and lead it back into a positive future." At the end of September, Adler had 3,350 employees. Adler is planning a bankruptcy in self-administration, in which the board of directors remains in office and is only supervised by an external administrator. The Aschaffenburg District Court has to decide on this.

Many textile retailers go bust

Christian Gerloff, who comes to Adler as a general representative, is supposed to help with the restructuring via an insolvency plan. He has a lot of experience with bankruptcies in the textile industry. Among other things, Gerloff acted as insolvency administrator at Escada and Laurel. In the corona crisis, several textile retailers and manufacturers have already filed for bankruptcy, including Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, Hallhuber, Bonita and Appelrath-Cüpper. At the beginning of November, Adler Mode reported a "noticeable upward trend". However, liquid funds had already shrunk to 24.8 (end of 2019: 70) million euros at the end of September.

Adler survived the first lockdown in the spring with short-time work and a loan secured with a government guarantee. The company had drawn 45 million euros of this at the end of October. Sales shrank in the first nine months by a third to 239 million euros, the net loss grew to 63 million. However, Adler was already in the red in 2019. The company could not rely on its majority shareholder: S&E Kapital, which holds almost 53 percent of the shares, had been trying to sell its stake for months. Behind S&E are Steilmann SE, which has been insolvent for a good four years, and the financial investor Equinox.

. (tagsToTranslate) economy (t) textile industry (t) insolvency (t) lockdown (t) corona crisis