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Teknikmagasinet ansöker om konkurs
Butikskedjan Teknikmagasinet avbryter sin företagsrekonstruktion och ansöker om konkurs. Men det finns aktörer som är intresserade av att ta över verksamheten.
På onsdagen lämnade butikskedjan Teknikmagasinet, som har över 130 butiker spridda i hela Norden, in en ansökan om konkurs. Företaget har länge dragits med ekonomiska problem. 2017 inleddes en rekonstruktion, som avbröts när en ny ägare gick in med kapital. Men i juni 2019 krisade ekonomin åter och det blev nödvändigt med ännu en rekonstruktion - som dock inte kunde rädda verksamheten.
”Efter förhandlingar med kunder, finansiärer och intressenter kan styrelsen konstatera att förutsättningar för lyckad rekonstruktion ej längre finns och att bolaget saknar möjlighet att betala sina skulder”, skriver företaget i sin konkursansökan, enligt Dagens Nyheter.
För att få ordning på ekonomin har prylkedjan stängt olönsamma butiker och satsat på mobilreparationer. Men åtgärderna räckte alltså inte till.
”Under 2019 har Teknikmagasinet genomfört en nysatsning och på kort tid blivit Nordens största mobilreparatör. Butikshandeln har dock drabbas av en fortsatt sjunkande omsättning och stigande hyror – samtidigt som en försvagad svensk krona har fördyrat varuinköpen från utlandet”, skriver bolaget i ett pressmeddelande enligt Dagens Handel.
Vd Ulrika Göransson har dock förhoppningar om att verksamheten kan leva vidare genom att överlåtas till en annan aktör.
– I dag finns intressenter. Min förhoppning är att vi kan leva vidare, säger hon till TT.
Prylkedjan har omkring 600 anställda i Norden. På en fråga från TT vad som händer med dem svarar Ulrika Göransson.
– Det följer normala gången, men jag kan inte uttala mig utan sådana frågor måste tas med konkursförvaltaren.
Mikael Svensson, ombudsman på Unionen, har heller ingen information om vad som händer med de anställda. Men han ser positivt på uppgifterna om att det ska finnas en intressent som eventuellt är beredd att ta över verksamheten.
– Så länge det finns en intressent finns det hopp för de anställda. Men det är en tuff situation för personalen, säger han.
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No guaranteed wages in Northvolt's US reconstruction
Northvolt's financial troubles continue. Now, the battery manufacturer's hopes rest on a reconstruction in the USA. However, the process means that the state guaranteed wages – lönegaranti – will not apply to Union members.
The clock is ticking for the struggling battery manufacturer Northvolt. During the autumn, debts have piled up with the Swedish Enforcement Authority, and recently several of the company's major shareholders withdrew from negotiations for new financing. Since its inception in 2015, Northvolt has raised SEK 110 billion, but now the money is almost gone. According to CEO Peter Carlsson, they need to raise just over SEK 10 billion in the coming year, but so far the search for new financing has been fruitless.
Maintaining control with Chapter 11
Therefore, Northvolt has now taken the next step to save the company. The management has applied for a so-called Chapter 11 procedure, a type of reconstruction process in the USA that was recently used by the airline SAS. One possible explanation for the battery manufacturer turning to an American court is that it is considered doubtful that Northvolt would be granted a Swedish reconstruction, as it requires the company to be fundamentally viable. Another advantage of Chapter 11 is that the management is likely to retain control over the company.
No guaranteed wages for employees
However, there is a downside – for the employees. In an American process, Northvolt's employees will not be able to benefit from the Swedish state guaranteed wages - lönegaranti - according to several legal experts contacted by Kollega.
– The Swedish state does not pay any guaranteed wages if the company has not initiated a reconstruction or bankruptcy in Sweden. If Northvolt only initiates a Chapter 11 procedure in the USA, all the company's obligations to employees in Sweden to pay wages and other compensation according to the employment contract remain, says Hans Andersson, chairman of the Swedish Association of Restructuring and Bankruptcy Administrators.
If Union members at Northvolt do not receive their wages, the union can, however, request the company to be declared bankrupt in a Swedish court.
– If Northvolt does not pay wages on time, the employee or the union can collect the wages through the Enforcement Authority and ultimately request that the company be declared bankrupt if the wages are not settled, explains Hans Andersson.
Unionen: "Will collect unpaid wages"
Filip Vujcic, a union lawyer at Unionen, also assesses that members cannot benefit from the state guaranteed wages when a corporate reconstruction is initiated in the USA.
– This means that Unionen, in the event of future unpaid wages, needs to safeguard its members' rights through wage collection. According to Swedish bankruptcy rules, a corporate reconstruction in the USA does not prevent a member's bankruptcy application from being examined in a Swedish court, he says.
Will Unionen request Northvolt to be declared bankrupt if members do not receive their wages?
– Unionen does not comment on that question at this time.
*In wage collection, Unionen usually sends a demand letter to the employer, who has seven days to pay the wages. If the wages are still not paid, the employer receives a payment order via service. If that does not help either, Unionen sends a bankruptcy application to the district court.
This text has been translated with the help of AI.
CHAPTER 11
- American reconstruction process aimed at giving a company a chance to continue with all or parts of its operations. Normally, no administrator is appointed, and the debtor continues to run the business themselves.
- The company must present a plan that must be approved by the court. The plan aims to determine which debts the debtor should pay and which debts should be written off. The plan also provides the opportunity to terminate unfavorable contracts and reorganize the business so that it can continue to operate profitably.
- One advantage of turning to a court in the USA instead of using the Swedish reconstruction process is that a Chapter 11 has an impact in several countries. If a group has companies in different countries, they are all drawn under the same process instead of carrying it out in each country and risking different outcomes.
