Experience

Erik M Gabrielsson is normally appointed bankruptcy receiver in approximately 80-100 bankruptcies per year. The assignments presented below are a selection of the last five years’ operations and the year in brackets is the year in which the assignment started.

Several major industrial bankruptcies, not infrequently of groups, have in recent years been entrusted to Erik M Gabrielsson by the creditors concerned or others who had an interest in finding a solution.

All bankruptcy management is about quickly identifying the assets of the bankruptcy company and finding a model to preserve them in the best possible way. The model chosen often depends on the specific circumstances of the industry.

Continued operation under the direct supervision of the bankruptcy estate in most cases best preserves the value of the bankruptcy estate and, for this reason, the law firm has specifically built legal and administrative procedures to handle continued operations. All indicates that bankruptcy management has become more complex in recent years and, as a result, the requirements on the organisation responsible for bankruptcy management have also increased.

In larger and more complex assignments, it is often through well-planned progress that a reorganisation solution for the business can be achieved. The reorganisation solution usually leads to large financial gains for creditors. Moreover, for employees and for the society as a whole, social benefits are achieved when unemployment and other unfortunate consequences can be avoided.

The latest reorganisations through bankruptcy include a major nationwide parquet flooring manufacturer in Blekinge with a large number of employees (2020), one of the world’s chain manufacturers for the off-shore industry as well as one of Sweden’s oldest still active mines originating in the 16th century (Västmanland, 2019), a large press foundry in northern Kalmar county that has made deliveries to the automotive industry (2019), a well-known furniture manufacturer in the Jönköping district that has delivered famous pieces of furniture (2019), a very large sand and cast iron foundry in central Kalmar county with customers in the automotive industry (2019), a group that has been manufacturing heat pumps in Kalmar and also a wholly-owned Finnish subsidiary (2019), a cutting works company in Kronoberg county with a wholly owned subsidiary with property sold without detour over bankruptcy for its subsidiary (2019), a well-known horse trailer manufacturer in western Kronoberg county (2018), nationwide known windows manufacturer in Kronoberg county with several wholly owned foreign subsidiaries that have been wound up through internal group settlements (2018), a group with a larger steel foundry in Kronoberg county (2018), mechanical industry in Kalmar county with own products (2018), a group of fibre-optic engineers with head office in Kalmar county, operating in the entire country (2018), foundry in Sörmland (2017), limited liability company in eastern Blekinge specialised in the manufacturing of machines for quick silver recycling (2017), metal industry with lego production in central Kalmar county (2016), mechanical industry in Södra Kronoberg county (2016), mechanical workshop in Blekinge dedicated to lego production (2016), larger foundry in Kalmar (2016), medium-sized printing house in Kalmar county (2016), bed manufacturing group in Kronoberg county (2016), heat pump manufacturer in Kalmar county (2016), mechanical industry directed towards welding works in central Kalmar county (2015), circuit board manufacturer in Kalmar county (2014) and a larger industry for war material manufacturing in Kronoberg county (2014).

The food processing industries include a manufacturing company in Kalmar with a well-known frozen pizza brand (2020), a seafood company with one of Sweden’s most well-known brands and its own production in Blekinge (2017), which has been reorganised into bankruptcy through long-term continued operation. In the food industry, the continued operation of a slaughterhouse in Jönköping County (2019) should also be mentioned.

In general, agricultural companies with live animals can only be managed through administration. Milk production is a very special industry surrounded by extensive rules and ethical issues. Our law firm has managed four very large dairy producers in 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020 (in all cases with longer continued operation periods). In 2019, one of Sweden’s largest mink farms was decommissioned through continued operations and a stud farm was decommissioned.

In general, haulage companies are well suited to be managed through continued operations and here we should mention a forest haulage company in the highlands of Småland (2020), a larger truck haulage company in Jönköping (2017) and a gravel haulage company in the same area (2017), a line haulage company in the northern part of the highlands of Småland (2015).

 The law firm also has experience in healthcare and education bankruptcies, continued operations have taken place in an HVB home in Kalmar county (2019) and Erik M Gabrielsson has been the administrator of a primary and secondary school group with 500 employees (2015) in southern Sweden and bankruptcy receiver for a preschool (2015).

In the autumn of 2019, a nationwide hunting store group with a dozen companies in several different jurisdictions was wound up by bankruptcy after an attempt at formal company reorganisation, which was ultimately interrupted. In retail bankruptcies alternatives other than the sale of the current stock are not usually considered. This is usually not fitting for large stores with extensive stock and they must be wound up by other means in order to preserve the bankruptcy value. Among other things, within the framework of the bankruptcy, the law firm reorganised a group containing a very well-known shoe retail chain in southern Sweden (2017) and the winding up took place by successfully handing over the entire business to a nationally renowned operator and with significantly better end results than what a so-called sale-off would have yielded.

Among other assignments, it should be mentioned that Erik M Gabrielsson assisted the board of directors in the liquidation of the Savings Banks’ Safety Deposit (2018). By Act (2018:1392) on the Dissolution of the Savings Banks’ Safety Deposit, the board of directors itself was a formal liquidator.