Brantano receives interest from multiple parties after Macintosh bankruptcy
More than 10 parties are interested in acquiring the Brantano footwear chain, according to its Director Stefaan van Weyenbergh, who was interviewed by De Tijd. Brantano, which operates 129 footwear stores across Belgium, according to the report, is part of the Dutch Macintosh holding company which was declared bankrupt yesterday.
Concrete talks are ongoing, Van Weyenbergh said, which should yield results within two weeks. According to the report, some candidates are only interested in Brantano, while others have also shown an interest in acquiring other Macintosh-owned footwear stores.
Macintosh did not request suspension of payments for Brantano, the report added, which can be seen as a sign of confidence, according to Van Weyenbergh. For other Netherlands-based Macintosh-businesses, suspension of payments was granted by a court last week.
Van Weyenbergh told De Tijd he expects Brantano to be able to make it on its own through January, but by February things would get more difficult. However, by then there should be a buyer, he told the newspaper.
Overall, Van Weyenbergh is optimistic, according to the newspaper. He has confidence in the parties who have come forward, some of these businesses are investment funds, while others are already engaged in the footwear business, he told De Tijd reporters. Some of the interested parties possess a lot of money, Van Weyenberg said, which would be necessary for investments in upgrading its strores, so as to guarantee future survival of the brand, he added.
Last year Brantano had a turnover of EUR 151.8m, the report added.
De Tijd