On Monday, March 11, Dutchman Marc Zwaaneveld, who has been appointed co-CEO of Van Hool, presented his recovery plan for the company. 1,400 of the 2,500 jobs could be saved. But that recovery plan has now been scrapped. “Bankruptcy can no longer be avoided,” says Zwaaneveld.
Why was the recovery plan for Van Hool canceled?
Because the descendants of Bernard Van Hool, who founded the company in 1947, do not match. Five family clans each have twenty percent of the company’s shares, but Bernard Van Hool’s two daughters never received shares because, according to Bernard, women should not be involved in business. This outdated vision of society of the paterfamilias is now leading to the demise of the company.
READ ALSO. Three reasons why Van Hool can hardly avoid bankruptcy
Because in order to implement the recovery plan, an external investor would have to be found who would own part of Van Hool’s shares. This means that the Van Hool family would have to hand over some of the shares and that the inheritance issue would have to be settled definitively, but the quarreling family members could not reach an agreement on this. So there is no fresh money and therefore bankruptcy is inevitable.
What are the immediate consequences for employees?
This week, Van Hool employees can continue working as usual. “We will continue to make all payments scheduled for this week. This also includes the remuneration of the staff,” says Marc Zwaaneveld. “But on March 31, the money runs out. Shortly after that date we will file for bankruptcy and a curator will be appointed. Then my assignment is done.”
The unions are very concerned because the majority of a given month’s wages are not paid until the beginning of the following month. For example, Van Hool workers received an advance on their wages in mid-March and should normally have received their final settlement, which represents approximately two-thirds of their wages, at the beginning of April. But by then Van Hool’s wallet will be empty. This means that it is very uncertain whether the March wages will be paid in full.
After bankruptcy, employees must wait until they are dismissed by the trustee. They can then apply for unemployment benefits. The staff is also entitled to severance pay, but due to the bankruptcy there is no immediate money for this. Employees can turn to the Fund for the Closure of Businesses (FSO), but there are three catches: that fund pays out a maximum of 30,500 euros gross (while many employees are entitled to a higher amount), the payment can take several months. will have to wait and any unemployment benefit an employee receives will be deducted from that 30,500 euros.
Will there be a buyer or not?
At this point, no one knows the answer to that question. “But I am optimistic. For me the glass is half full,” says Marc Zwaaneveld. “I will be consulting intensively with prospective acquirers this week. There are three candidates, but two of them are working together on a common bid. I will not mention any names, but I can confirm that all prospective buyers are from Europe.”
The West Flemish entrepreneur Guido Dumarey has already come forward publicly. The Dutch bus manufacturer VDL, which has a branch in Roeselare, is also persistently mentioned in the corridors. At the beginning of April, Marc Zwaaneveld will file for bankruptcy and the prospective acquirers can bid on the shares of Van Hool that they want to take over. The court will ultimately decide who will own the parts of Van Hool.
“It is possible that the company will become fragmented, with one potential acquirer taking over one part of Van Hool and another candidate taking over another part,” says Marc Zwaaneveld. “I mainly see a future in industries for which you can charge more money, because innovation and specialization of employees can be fully exploited there. An example of this is the advanced refrigerated trailers. I personally see no future for city buses. But it will be the future investor who decides whether city buses will still be made at the site in Koningshooikt or not.”
What will happen to the Van Hool factory in Macedonia?
It also goes bankrupt. But it is possible that one of the interested investors also wants to take over that factory. On Tuesday, one of the interested parties will travel to the factory in Skopje to see how things are going there.
Will the Van Hool name disappear?
That depends on the prospective buyers, but the chance is high. If there is a restart, the Van Hool family will no longer be involved. The feuding family members have lost everything. The employees haven’t yet.
“But even if there is a takeover, people here will lose a lot,” says Hans Vaneerdewegh, secretary of the socialist union ABVV. “They not only lose their current job, but also their colleagues. It’s like your partner at home saying your relationship is over. Then you not only lose your wife or your husband, but also your entire in-laws.”
Tags: Van Hool family lost employees coCEO Marc Zwaaneveld optimistic takeover
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