After the District Court of Dortmund ordered the opening of insolvency proceedings for Sport Voswinkel and the continuation of its self-administration on July 25, Sport Voswinkel's creditors have now agreed to a restructuring plan, which has already approved by the court. The insolvency proceedings will be terminated in the near future.
In accordance with that plan, 19 of the existing 72 stores were going close by Oct. 31. However, 13 stores slated to close in the near future will in fact remain open, thanks to successful negotiations with the local landlords. Meanwhile, the company's head office and its distribution center in Dortmund and Bochum will undergo a major reorganization, which will affect 300 jobs.
Sport Voswinkel runs a chain of 72 stores throughout Germany. It has been a member of Intersport Germany since 1989 and a subsidiary of the voluntary group since 2003. On April 24, it filed an application for voluntary insolvency proceedings under its own administration and gave potential buyers until July 17 to make their offers. The chain said it would review the offers, which were mainly for individual stores.
Anna-Lena Schulte-Angels and Marcus Neul, the company's joint chief executives, are in charge of the restructuring plan, supported by Lorenzo Matthaei of the law firm Finkenhof. Christoph Schulte-Kaubrügger, a lawyer from White & Case, is serving as a so-called guardian, supervising the procedure on the creditors' behalf. The District Court of Dortmund officially confirmed the restructuring plan once the creditors had agreed to it.
