SMCP Still in the Dark as Shareholder Battle Shrouds Future
November 11 2021 - 5:37AM
Dow Jones News
By Joshua Kirby
Uncertainty continues to surround the ownership of French
fashion group SMCP SAS, which says it hasn't been notified of the
details of a contested stake sale by its former parent.
Replying to a letter sent this week by shareholder
representative Gouvernance en Action, Chief Executive Isabelle
Guichot said the company hadn't been notified of a stake sale by
European TopSoho, which until last month held a controlling
interest of around 53% in the company.
The Luxembourg-based holding subsidiary of Chinese apparel
conglomerate Shandong Ruyi Technology Group lost control of SMCP
when it handed over around 22 million shares--a roughly 29%
stake--to bond trustee Glas, after failing to redeem bonds worth
250 million euros ($287 million) due at the end of September.
Last week, SMCP said ETS had sold a further stake of around 16%
to an unidentified third party. However, no relevant filings have
been made, according to Ms. Guichot. "We have received no
declaration of the crossing of a disposal threshold by ETS after
the sale of the aforementioned 12,106,929 SMCP shares," she said in
her reply dated Wednesday.
"We have furthermore received no declaration of the crossing of
an acquisition threshold by a third party in connection with this
disposal," she added. Nor has any relevant notice been published by
the French capital-markets authority, Ms. Guichot said.
"In light of the absence of any such declaration, we are unable
to provide any information as to the identity of the buyer or
buyers of the disposed shares," she said.
SMCP will hold a board meeting in the coming days in order to
discuss the current situation and the demands set out by trustee
GLAS when it acquired its stake from ETS, Ms. Guichot said. Glas,
which has appointed a receiver to sell the stake to a third party,
has called for a shareholders' meeting to be convened, including on
the agenda the dismissal of all ETS and Shandong Ruyi
representatives from the company's board, and the appointment of
four new independent directors.
Glas has meanwhile filed a bankruptcy petition against ETS at a
Luxembourg court, and has suggested the latter's further stake
disposal could be illegal. "As trustee, we continue to reserve our
rights in full and will take all measures necessary to preserve the
interests of all bondholders," the company said in a statement last
week.
ETS and Shandong Ruyi didn't respond to a request for
clarification of their position.
Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com;
@joshualeokirby
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 11, 2021 06:22 ET (11:22 GMT)
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