Damien Kantor
08/02/2021 15:30
Clarín.com
Economy
Updated 08/02/2021 3:47 PM
Engulfed in a deep crisis and to avoid bankruptcy,
the century-old household appliances company Ribeiro appeared this Monday in bankruptcy
. Now, under the umbrella of Justice, it will seek to restructure its debts, after an unsuccessful search for an investment partner. "The bankruptcy is not the end. On the contrary, it
is a mechanism that the law gives us to reorder the company
and continue the search for investors and financing that will allow us to once again have an operationally profitable company," said Manuel Ribeiro, its president, in a statement.
Ribeiro's problems were exposed last month. As
Clarín
announced
, at the beginning of July the chain closed all its stores, its eCommerce portal suddenly stopped working. Born in San Luis and with a strong presence in the interior of the country, at the end of 2018 Ribeiro had 1,900 employees and 85 branches. Today they are much less. Regarding the judicial presentation, Ribeiro said that "
the decision was not easy for a family business with more than 110 years
, which together with the country overcame innumerable economic and financial crises, perhaps the strongest and not so distant was that of 2001 ".
Ribeiro's situation is similar to that of Garbarino, although of other dimensions. The expansion of the chain (in number of stores and staff)
reached its peak in 2017, when they managed to bill US $ 370 million
. The abrupt devaluation of April 2018 found it indebted to foreign suppliers, in a context of generalized falls in sales. "That long period of growth became
the beginning of a great crisis
that ends up leading us, and after much struggle and effort, to filing for creditors," recalled the businessman.
A lack of credit and the contraction of demand came
the devastating blow of the pandemic
, quarantines and the rise of electronic commerce. Towards the end of last year, Ribeiro adds, "the board began with the search for an investment partner to relaunch the company." In fact, it reveals that "
we had two interested parties
, but the negotiations ended inconclusively because the situation in the country and the world did not help." Self-critical, Ribeiro also acknowledges that they were not able to convert the chain in time to online sales, a modality that has grown rapidly since last year.
The truth is that "in recent years,
the home appliance market has shrunk by 50% in units
, which is why Ribeiro's agony has been going on for a long time," explained a senior industry executive. In the field, Garbarino was the leader. Also of family origin, the chain was sold last June to Carlos Rosales, also owner of the insurer Prof and leader of San Lorenzo. Today the company is virtually paralyzed, with unpaid salaries for months and temporary or permanent branch closures.
Manuel Ribeiro is well known in the business.
Those who know him say that he
is deeply affected by the situation.
The businessman himself stated that "in the past 100 years we have already demonstrated our vocation to do business with ethics and a long-term vision. That is why we know that
healing the relationship with our creditors as soon as possible
is one of the keys to being the right again. company of which we are all proud. "
The entire Ribeiro operation (premises, offices and logistics centers) is practically paralyzed.
Historically, its strength was tailor-made financing through its Minicuotas Ribeiro plans and the Minicuotas Alta Confianza (MAC) loan.
Today, the company is run by members of the third generation of the family.
"The company continued trying to overcome the crisis that exponentially aggravated Covid-19, thanks to the unwavering efforts of its employees, managers, directors and the commitment of its shareholders, who reinvested almost US $ 20 million in society between 2018 and 2019" Ribeiro pointed out. Today, the destiny of the San Luis chain is in the judicial orbit.