The management of this German shoe company has warned that it may have to soon file for insolvency in the absence of a breakthrough in its lengthy negotiations with a pension fund over its takeover of some of the company’s liabilities. A final response is tentatively expected within the next ten days.
Sioux points out that in the 1960s and ‘70s, its former owners had contracted a very expensive employee retirement scheme that is now weighing heavily on the company’s finances.
All the other 35 creditors of Sioux have agreed to an even higher haircut in order to keep the company afloat in spite of losses related to the insolvency of its former owner, Egana Goldpfeil, in August 2008. The losses were primarily due to a lack of funds to finance its production, which led to a slight sales decline last year to about €45 million.
Square Four Investments, the Frankfurt-based company that took over Rohde last year, agreed to acquire Sioux as well last April on condition that it would complete the renegotiation of its liabilities. In contrast with its acquisition of Rohde, which did not include its Portuguese factory, Square Four accepted to take over Sioux’s Portuguese manufacturing facilities as well.