Camaïeu in receivership: what does this measure actually mean for the brand?
The receivership after cessation of payments does not mean that the shops close overnight. On the contrary: the procedure often saves the company.
Camaïeu struggles to stay afloat. Two years after it was taken over by Financière immobilière bordelaise (FIB), the ready-to-wear group is once again placed under receivership by the Commercial Court of Lille.
The northern company declared bankruptcy last week, weighed down by the health crisis. The aim of the label, which employs 2,571 people in 538 stores in France, “is to preserve the activity of the company and the Camaïeu brand”, the management of the group informed AFP.
What does receivership mean for the company and for the clients? First of all, that doesn’t mean that the shops will close overnight.
continuation plan
The insolvency proceedings intervene when the company is on the brink of collapse. She is then on hold, which means she no longer has sufficient funds to pay off her debts. It must therefore file for bankruptcy with the commercial court and apply for bankruptcy administration.
But their main goal is to stay afloat. A court administrator is appointed by the commercial court to administer it with or without the manager. The idea then is to draw up an economic balance sheet of the company and try to pay off the debt and, above all, to keep the job.
From then on, creditors’ procedures will be frozen and activity will be maintained where possible. In this case, for Camaïeu, this receivership must enable him “to present a business continuity plan to continue the transformation initiated by the group and thus ensure the sustainability of the company”.
“social break”
“Even if the court confirms a continuity plan, there will be a restructuring of the workforce, that is, a social plan, that is, social damage,” reacted for AFP Thierry Siwik, Camaïeu’s CGT delegate. In fact, the purpose of this plan is to provide the company with a more secure future, and this often involves reorganization and cost reduction. It is therefore possible that at some point stores will close and employees will be reclassified or laid off.
The process can take several months. If no recovery plan is achieved, the company can also look for a new buyer.
In August 2020, FIB had taken over 511 of the 634 branches in France and around 2,600 of more than 3,100 employees as part of a reorganization led by the Commercial Court. She had launched a major transformation plan. Which apparently didn’t pay off.
