• Operational business at Tennis-Point and Internetstores continues - returns of goods possible again
  • First measures for continuation solutions implemented

Munich/Bielefeld, October 31, 2023 - In the past few days, several companies of the Signa Sport United Group (SSU) have filed applications to open regular insolvency proceedings on their assets. SSU is a specialized sports e-commerce company based in Berlin and primarily active in the cycling and tennis segments. Dr. Christian Gerloff (Gerloff Liebler Rechtsanwälte , Munich) and Stefan Meyer (PLUTA Rechtsanwalts GmbH) were appointed as provisional insolvency administrators. In the meantime, the provisional insolvency administrators have been able to implement important measures to continue the operating business and initiate initial steps towards solutions for the future. Business is continuing at the operating companies Tennis-Point and Internetstores, and returns of goods are once again possible both for old orders (prior to the insolvency application) and for new business.

In detail, the following companies have filed for insolvency:

  • Signa Sport United N.V. (SSU N.V.) is a company under Dutch law with its registered office in Berlin. Its shares were listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) since 2021 and have been delisted effective October 11, 2023. SSU N.V. has no operating business and is a 100% shareholder of SIGNA Sports United GmbH (SSU GmbH). The provisional insolvency administrator is Dr. Christian Gerloff. Due to a decision on a group jurisdiction (§3 a Insolvency Code), the proceedings are pending at the District Court of Bielefeld.
  • SIGNA Sports United GmbH, based in Berlin, acts as the umbrella and service company for the operating companies of the SSU Group. It is responsible for central functions such as IT, human resources and finance. The company has approximately 185 employees. SSU GmbH directly or indirectly holds 100 % of the shares in Tennis-Point GmbH, in Internetstores GmbH and in various direct and indirect domestic and foreign companies totaling 31. In addition, all of the Group's IT services are pooled in this company. The provisional insolvency administrator is attorney Stefan Meyer. These proceedings are also being conducted at the Local Court of Bielefeld on the basis of the Group's court decision.
  • Tennis-Point GmbH, based in Herzebrock-Clarholz in eastern Westphalia and employing just under 400 people, sells a wide range of tennis products and operates various online stores for this purpose (including www.tennis-point.de), 13 bricks-and-mortar stores in Germany and, via subsidiaries, 20 further stores in other European countries. The proceedings are pending at Bielefeld Local Court; the provisional insolvency administrator is Dr. Christian Gerloff.
  • Internetstores GmbH, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, employs around 470 people and operates more than 32 online specialty stores for bicycles, bicycle accessories, sporting goods and outdoor products (including www.fahrrad.de). In addition, the company operates stationary bicycle stores in Germany and Sweden. The Stuttgart Local Court has appointed Dr. Christian Gerloff as provisional insolvency administrator.
  • Publikat GmbH, headquartered in Großostheim, Germany, is a logistics company of the Group that mainly provides its services to the former Group company Outfitter GmbH and Internetstores GmbH. The company employs approximately 300 people. The provisional insolvency administrator is Stefan Meyer; the insolvency proceedings are being conducted via the group court in Bielefeld.

The insolvency applications followed Signa Holding GmbH's decision, announced on October 16, 2023, to withdraw its commitment to SSU N.V. to provide an additional EUR 150 million in financing.

Close cooperation and coordination of the insolvency administrators
The two provisional insolvency administrators, Dr. Christian Gerloff and Stefan Meyer, and the teams of the two law firms involved, Gerloff Liebler and PLUTA, are working closely together in the individual proceedings, in view of the existing interconnectedness of the companies, in order to achieve an appropriate and resilient solution for the future with the best possible satisfaction of creditors. In the first few days, the focus was on stabilizing and continuing business operations at Tennis-Point, Internetstores, SIGNA Sports United GmbH and Publikat GmbH. To this end, a large number of successful discussions were held with suppliers, trade credit insurers, service providers, creditors and financiers.

  • At Tennis-Point and Internetstores, agreement was reached with the provisional creditors' committees on how to proceed. The operating businesses of both companies will continue to operate and all stationary stores will remain open. Goods returns and complaints relating to both old orders and new business are also being reliably processed as before. The teams at both companies are currently working flat out to provide customers with the usual fast service, even if there may still be isolated delays in processing.
  • The employees of all companies subject to insolvency proceedings will receive insolvency benefits from the German Federal Employment Agency for the months October to December 2023. The necessary advance financing of the insolvency allowance has been initiated and is well advanced. As soon as all the necessary requirements have been met, it is to be paid out to employees this week (despite the public holidays).
  • In consultation with the respective preliminary creditors' committees, it is planned to set up structured (separate) investor processes for Tennis-Point and for Internetstores in the near future in order to achieve viable future solutions for both companies under new ownership. The insolvency proceedings at SSU N.V. and SSU GmbH are crucially dependent on the progress and results of these investor processes and are therefore indirectly involved in the investor processes. In the past few days, a large number of interested parties from Germany and abroad have already actively registered for both companies and will be involved in the structured processes. An investor solution that includes both Tennis-Point and Internetstores activities is conceivable, but is not currently being pursued as a priority.

Lawyer Dr. Christian Gerloff: "Tennis-Point and Internetstores have a strong international market position in their respective segments of the sports market and a loyal customer base. The teams of both companies are also highly motivated to continue providing their customers with the best possible service. The quite impressive number of addresses that have already actively expressed their interest shows that the chances for good future solutions are basically given."

Attorney Stefan Meyer: "The carve-out of important operational parts of the SIGNA Sport United Group in the context of the investor processes is undoubtedly a complex and demanding task against the background of the close integration into the Signa Group of Companies. It is therefore all the more important that the individual insolvency proceedings are optimally coordinated in order to find the best solution for creditors, customers and employees. I am confident that we will find good solutions here with the motivated employees and the team at Gerloff Liebler."

Press contact Gerloff Liebler Rechtsanwälte :
Frank Elsner
Frank Elsner communication for enterprises GmbH
Tel.: +49 - 170 48 15 181
Mail: office@elsner-kommunikation.de

Press contact PLUTA:
Patrick Sutter
relatio PR
Tel.: +49 89 210 257-22
Mail: presse@pluta.net

 

About Gerloff Liebler Rechtsanwälte
Gerloff Liebler Rechtsanwälte is a law firm in Munich specializing in insolvency law. The firm's practice focuses on insolvency administration (including plan proceedings and self-administration) as well as other areas of business law advice such as corporate restructuring and out-of-court liquidation proceedings. The firm also has extensive expertise in related areas such as employment law, corporate law and banking law.

The law firm was founded in 1982 by Dr. iur. Wolfgang Ott as an individual law firm and today comprises a team of around 40 employees. For many years, the insolvency specialists Dr. iur. Christian Gerloff, Dr. iur. Marco Liebler and Christian Stoffler have been appointed as insolvency administrators and trustees by several local courts in southern Germany. In the meantime, many hundreds of insolvency proceedings of various sizes have been handled as regular or self-administration proceedings - from medium-sized individual companies to listed groups - in numerous sectors of the economy, often with an international radius.

Among the outstanding insolvency proceedings of recent years were the fashion manufacturers Escada AG/Escada SE, Rena Lange, Laurèl GmbH as well as Gerry Weber International AG (as CRO), the automotive suppliers Angell-Demmel, Weber Automotive (administrator), Arlington Germany (CRO) and Rüster GmbH (CRO), the specialty chemicals producer SKW Stahl-Metallurgie AG (CRO), the hospital chain Sanitas Group, the Munich-based real estate group Infraplan, the fashion store chains Rudolf Wöhrl AG (CRO), K&L Ruppert and Adler Modemärkte (CRO), and currently real GmbH (CRO).

About PLUTA
PLUTA helps companies in legally and economically difficult situations. Since its foundation in 1982, PLUTA has grown steadily and today employs around 500 people in Germany, Spain and Italy. More than 290 business people, business economists, lawyers, commercial lawyers, tax consultants, auditors, certified public accountants, economists, bankers, accountants, engineers and specialists for insolvency administration, among them many with multiple qualifications, provide practicable, economically sensible solutions. PLUTA provides support in particular for the reorganization and continuation of companies in crisis or insolvency situations and, if required, also sends reorganization experts to the board. PLUTA belongs to the top group of reorganization and restructuring firms, as evidenced by rankings and awards from INDat, JUVE, The Legal 500, Who's Who Legal, brandeins and Focus. Further information at www.pluta.net