Skip to content

500 redundancies at Lila Bäcker: insolvency administrator takes over

The stumbling bakery chain Lila Bäcker actually wanted to reposition itself in insolvency proceedings under self-administration. Now an insolvency administrator has taken over. Hundreds of employees have to go.

The logo of the Lila Bäcker company with the words "lila lecker" on a branch. Photo.aussiedlerbote.de
The logo of the Lila Bäcker company with the words "lila lecker" on a branch. Photo.aussiedlerbote.de

Trade - 500 redundancies at Lila Bäcker: insolvency administrator takes over

The insolvent bakery chain Lila Bäcker has to close around a third of its 230 branches. Around 500 of the 1,600 employees will have to go, the company announced on Tuesday. In October, the bakery chain with branches in Berlin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg and Schleswig-Holstein applied for insolvency proceedings under self-administration. In December, the last investor for a takeover of the entire company backed out. Insolvency proceedings were opened on January 1, as confirmed by the responsible district court in Neubrandenburg. Christian Graf Brockdorff was appointed as the insolvency administrator.

According to the company, branches in all four federal states are affected by the closures. According to the information provided, the redundancies primarily affect Unser Heimatbäcker GmbH, which produces bread and rolls in Pasewalk, as well as the branches and cafés. The focus is also on Unser Heimatbäcker Logistik GmbH, which is responsible for supplying the branch network. No redundancies are planned at Unser Heimatbäcker Holding GmbH and Mäkelbörger Kuchenmanufaktur GmbH, which produces cakes and pastries in Neubrandenburg.

"An overall solution for Lila Bäcker failed due to difficult market conditions caused by increased energy and raw material prices, which other bakeries are also suffering from," Viola Kaluza, head of Unser Heimatbäcker Holding GmbH, which trades as Lila Bäcker, was quoted as saying. Brockdorff announced that "from January, we will continue the Lila Bäcker with around two thirds of the branches and employees. Because these 160 branches and cafés are in interesting locations and are well frequented". He regrets the dismissal of almost a third of the staff. "This is the only realistic option for us to retain most of the stores and around 1100 jobs. We are continuing to negotiate with investors with this goal in mind". Brockdorff had previously supported the intended restructuring in self-administration as provisional administrator.

Lila Bäcker had already filed for insolvency at the beginning of 2019 with around 2,500 employees and 400 stores and was relaunched in September 2019 with 270 stores and 2,100 employees thanks to a state guarantee from Schwerin.

Read also:

Source: www.stern.de

Comments

Latest