No decision has yet been made at bus builder Van Hool on Tuesday about a possible bankruptcy. During a meeting of the board of directors, it was decided to take “an extra week” to negotiate a quick restart of the company.
Last week, a family dispute between the family shareholders turned out to be “not solvable”, which meant that Van Hool was expected to close its books today. But the board now reports that it “remains determined in its pursuit of a sustainable future for the company, despite recent challenges.”
Van Hool says it will “take one extra week to ensure the possibility of a quick restart”, and that “an already running parallel process to explore alternative scenarios has been intensified”. This reportedly includes “discussions with potential acquirers”, which are “constructive and in a good atmosphere”.
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Acquirers
Van Hool is still on the way to bankruptcy, but still hopes for a restart and the retention of some of the activities and employment. Last week it was announced that Dutch competitor VDL and German Schmitz Cargobull are working together on a takeover bid, and that entrepreneur Guido Dumarey is also interested. There would also be a fourth, smaller candidate.
The management says it pays attention “to all stakeholders, with particular attention to the employees”. However, there is still no communication about what the concrete plans are for (parts of) the company.
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