With the liquidation of Justo & Bueno, we will see the fate of the affected public, especially the landlords and suppliers, who were in the queue of priorities when responding for the debts that remained with the closure.
Darío Laguado Monsalve, the company’s liquidator, told Blu Radio that “the payroll of 5,800 workers was degraded to 4,000 and then to 3,000. That day, August 4 (when the liquidation was ordered), all were unemployed. But in that situation there is no way to pay them. We have paid, from labor accounts, $6,000 million to 3,700 workers corresponding to the month of May”.
“There remains a very large queue, of regarding $180,000 million. It is very easy to fix the problem if one thinks of the 1,057 stores that it had in operation, with the merchandise and operation. But it has not been like that, because the sudden closure generated a very complex reality ”, he pointed out.
The settlement agent maintained that there is no cash to catch up with creditors and mentioned that the chain’s loss was “gigantic.” “There are 15,000 claims, with suppliers of all kinds, including technology and fuel. And pI think that all the food suppliers lost their money, there is not a single peso to pay them. That group of businessmen has reason to be angry. And in leases, that the tenant owes the landlords 22 months he would be angry. Formally, I will present the statement of accounts on January 15 and it will be confirmed that the embezzlement is close to one trillion pesos.”he highlighted.
The liquidation of Justo & Bueno was ordered in August of this year following months of expectation from possible investors interested in rescuing the chain. The financial aid never materialized and the business closed having debts close to 1.7 trillion. After its closure, it left more than 1,000 stores throughout Colombia
Rafael Felipe Gómez, an expert in commercial law from the Deraíz Abogados firm, had told this newspaper that “it must be taken into account that the economic impact of a liquidation is of considerable magnitude. Especially for a chain like Justo & Bueno, which has a significant number of employees and creditors”.
The lawyer had explained that, in this case, a sum would be made to find out the total value of the assets (assets belonging to the company with which the debt would be covered) and there are some obligations that will prevail.
“The first contingencies that will have to be covered are those related to labor and tax matters. Once these issues are exhausted, we move on to the types of guarantees, such as the mortgages that have been constituted, ”explained Gómez.
“Then,” he added, “we come to the end, which is where, unfortunately, the creditors will end up finding themselves, because these become the bulk of the debt and many times they cannot be covered with the total assets of the company and are left in suspense. , but the law says that the company is responsible for the limit of its patrimony”.
