The company has not applied for a deferment of payment, but uses a so-called WHOA procedure. Such a procedure is an alternative to deferred payment. The holders of two-thirds of the debt must then agree to a proposal from the company. If this happens, all creditors are bound by that agreement. V&D is confident that this will succeed, the spokesman said.
Last week, V&D announced that it would continue undressed. For example, hobby items, beauty products and electronics will soon disappear from the range. V&D will focus more on clothing, shoes and interiors, in their own words because consumers continue to have a need for these in times of high inflation.
In 2021, the web department store still had a turnover of 12 million euros, but this decreased last year. “Due to the reopening of the shopping streets, people spent less online,” explains the spokesperson. But at the same time, customers also became more cautious due to “the high inflation and the war in Ukraine”. There were also problems with the supply chain and the switch to another software platform. That took more time and money than planned.
The debt restructuring via the WHOA procedure is therefore intended to be able to make the strategy change “in financial peace”, says the spokesman. “We don’t want to put up any new hurdles.”
The well-known department store V&D went bankrupt in 2015, but the trademark rights were later sold. Since 2018, the company is back as an online store.