Family feud pushes bus builder Van Hool into bankruptcy, Marc Zwaaneveld aims for a quick restart

The Van Hool family has been unable to reach a settlement, making bankruptcy unavoidable. Crisis manager Marc Zwaaneveld is now aiming for a quick restart and still has six days to find a buyer.

In any case, the Belgian bus builder Van Hool will file for bankruptcy. An inheritance dispute in the family makes another solution impossible. Crisis manager Marc Zwaaneveld continues to negotiate with possible buyers in order to make a quick restart after the bankruptcy. It must be clear by March 31 at the latest whether this will be successful.

The recovery plan that Zwaaneveld had drawn up – more efficient production and more focus on standardization, resulting in 1,116 jobs being cut – is being thwarted by the internal family feud. Due to that dispute, two-thirds of the shares were blocked, which would deter potential (industrial) partners or acquirers. Zwaaneveld had given the family until Monday afternoon to reach a settlement, but the water between the various branches turned out to be too deep.

Bankruptcy, in which Van Hool’s family shareholders are de facto wiped out, is therefore the only possible option. In concrete terms, a curator is now appointed to investigate whether a partial or complete takeover of the activities or assets is possible. This concerns, among other things, the factory halls or the still profitable trailer division. It is interesting for acquirers to only act after a bankruptcy, because the debt burden of 400 million euros will then disappear and they will not have to pay tens of millions in termination fees.

The fate of the more than 4,000 employees at Van Hool, 2,500 of whom are in Belgium, remains unclear. ‘There is still confidence in a quick restart. We will not give up as long as it is not necessary,” says spokesperson Dirk Snauwaert. Zwaaneveld confirmed that discussions are still ongoing with three European industrial partners, two of which are working together, who are interested in one or more parts of the company.

The unions hoped for more clarity about the candidate takeovers, but Zwaaneveld does not want to name any names. Much depends on those ultimate partners: what Van Hool will look like in the future and whether the company will be split up. “It is up to the potential acquirer and the curator to decide together which parts can remain intact,” says Zwaaneveld. ‘Our own plans provided for retaining as many activities and employment as possible, but it is ultimately up to the acquirer to determine what he wants to keep or not.’

“The management is keeping its cards close to its chest,” says Christophe Van Audenhove of the liberal trade union ACLVB. ‘Without clarity about the identity of the interlocutors, we have no insight into possible future employment. Will the outcome be more positive or negative than in the original recovery plan? The employees are left with more questions than answers.’

Furthermore, the Flemish government is also prepared to support a restart, but it first wants to wait and see which serious parties present themselves and whether they need support at all. “The essence is that there are two credible industrial partners who can make a quick restart possible,” says Flemish Minister of Economy Jo Brouns (CD&V). ‘Plan B must take shape in the coming days. Let’s give those negotiations every opportunity.’