Ssense founders keep control as company secures 40 million in interim financing

The Canadian e-commerce platform Ssense remains, for the time being, under the control of its founders. CEO Rami Atallah and his brothers Firas and Bassel Atallah won the first round of their legal battle with their creditors, allowing them to maintain control of the company’s operations and advance its restructuring under their leadership. Reports indicate that a comprehensive restructuring plan has been agreed upon to stabilize Ssense financially.

At the end of last month, Ssense’s creditors filed an application to put the company up for sale. In response, Ssense itself applied for creditor protection under Canadian law – similar to bankruptcy – in order to keep the business under the founders’ control and implement its own restructuring plan.

Restructuring gets court approval

A court in Québec has approved Ssense’s application under the Canadian Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). The law protects the company from enforcement actions by creditors for 30 days and allows the current management team and board to oversee the implementation of the restructuring plan. To ensure transparency and accountability, the court appointed Ernst & Young as monitor to supervise the process and provide public updates.

The approved interim financing of 40 million dollars consists of 15 million dollars from a consortium of banks – including Bank of Montreal, Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank, National Bank of Canada, and JPMorgan Chase – and 25 million dollars from the Atallah family. Claims for payments incurred prior to August 29 will be addressed through a court-approved process, while payments for goods and services provided after that date will continue as normal.