Noël, the French footwear company that has been a licensee of Umbro for many years, was placed in receivership by a court in Rennes on Dec. 8, with until June 8 to present a recapitalization plan. The company has been unable to conclude a satisfactory agreement for the transfer of the Umbro license to Groupe Royer, which has a contract with New Balance and is facing the possible loss of the Converse license, creating a cash squeeze. Furthermore, Noël is blaming the loss of two important supply contracts for military shoes with the French army and police.

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