Stefanel’s third restructuring weakens the presence of the founding family

Stefanel's rescue will take effect this week, with Oxy and Attestor investment funds coming on stage. This is the third restructuring the Italian retailer goes through in recent years.

"The new investors will bring cash and will also have the final say on different issues," explains Cristina Furlan, Secretary General of Filctem CGIL Treviso, in an interview with local newspaper 'Tribuna Treviso'. "We are not able to predict at what point the plan will impact the staff, but there will certainly be changes in production processes and new players will be the ones who will make the decisions." "The agreement is important news, finally, Stefanel will be able to look forward with confidence for the future. But it is only a first step: I hope that the number of employees is still the same, there are currently 120 workers In Ponte di Piave and about 500 employees in the stores,"the union added.

Once unions, companies and regulators agree on the recovery plan, Attestor will immediately inject 10 million euros into the ailing company to ensure the operations in the coming months.

After the acquisition, 75 percent of the shares will be held by Holdco, formed by Attestor and Oxy. "Bepi" Stefanel will keep 15 percent. With this third restructuring in just a few years, the power of the founding family is substantially diluted, although it retains its representation in the management bodies of the company.

The new Stefanel: fewer owned stores and greater presence in multi-brand establishments

Starting in September, the new Stefanel will have fewer direct sales outlets and franchises (currently it has around 400 that employ more than one thousand people according to 'Il Corriere della Sera').

In addition, the fashion brand will seek to increase sales in the "wholesale segment" via multi-brand stores. Company sources have advanced that the idea is to work on cost structure, not excluding staff cuts. "Reorganise the value chain, impacting the relationship with suppliers, with stores, transport costs and customer management," the same sources quoted by the Italian daily.

The agreement signed for the restructuring of the debt provides for the payment of 10 million euros by Attestor to meet the most pressing debts and support the cash needs and business continuity. They will also have a further 15 million euros, guaranteed by the creditor banks (Intesa Sanpaolo, Unicredit, BNP Paribas, BancoBpm, Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto) and another 2.5 million euros made available to Giuseppe Stefanel.

The agreement is now pending approval from the Court of Treviso Corte and is subject to Consob's exemption from a mandatory takeover bid (Stefanel is a listed company).

Foto: Stefanel website