The Dusseldorf Local Court has appointed GÖRG partner Holger Rhode as premilinary insolvency administrator for Scotch & Soda Retail GmbH. The German subsidiary of the Dutch fashion brand Scotch & Soda (S&S Europe B.V.) filed an application for the opening of insolvency proceedings with the competent local court on 13 June 2024.
Scotch & Soda Retail GmbH is a fashion company with around 40 shops nationwide and is part of the internationally recognised Scotch & Soda brand. The company is supplied by its parent company S&S Europe B.V. from the Netherlands. In Germany, the company most recently generated annual sales of 25 million euros with 290 employees.
Business operations are to continue together with the management at all 40 branch locations in Germany. "The shops in Germany will be supplied with goods by the parent company in the Netherlands, which is also in insolvency. I am currently liaising closely with those responsible in the Netherlands to ensure that we continue to receive goods," says Holger Rhode. The shops are currently still supplied with sufficient textile goods and will remain open. The employees have been informed of the current status by the provisional insolvency administrator and their wages and salaries are secured for the time being through the insolvency substitute benefits.
The provisional insolvency administrator of the German company has no influence on orders via the online shop; these are managed exclusively by the companies in the Netherlands.
An investor process is to be initiated in the near future. "We want to transfer as many of the shops as possible to an investor and secure as many of the 290 jobs as possible," says Holger Rhode. Whether a potential investor will also be able to continue the Scotch & Soda brand is currently unclear. "We can't say anything about this as we don't know what the current brand owner's objectives are. What we do know, however, is that Scotch & Soda has many good locations in attractive areas of cities such as Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Cologne and Münster." First interested parties have already contacted us.
The premilinary insolvency administrator Holger Rhode is receiving support from his Cologne colleague and GÖR partner Dr Raul Taras.
Premilinary Insolvency Administrator Scotch & Soda Retail GmbH
GÖRG Partnerschaft von Rechtsanwälten mbB / GÖRG Rechtsanwälte Insolvenzverwalter GbR
Holger Rhode (preliminary insolvency administrator, partner, insolvency administration/restructuring, Dusseldorf)
Dr Raul Taras (Partner, Restructuring, Cologne)
