Greece’s leading supermarket chain, Marinopoulos, is set for bankruptcy, according to a report in Ekathimerini, unless all parties involved can reach an agreement in July for the retailer’s streamlining.
Threatened with confiscations, the retailer this week filed for protection from its creditors, with the court in Athens expected to hear the case today.
If its application is rejected, then 12,500 employees will be out of work, leaving over 2,000 suppliers and creditors unpaid. The company’s debts total €1.32bn.
According to the report, investors interested in the company, which was once an affiliate of French chain Carrefour, will procced to due diligence in the coming fortnight before choosing their next move.
One scenario could see the retailer sell all its assets, worth an estimated €279.14m, including 67 properties, merchandise and stakes in other firms.
The collapse is expected to hit the chain’s suppliers hardest, most being small and medium-sized enterprises with no collateral. Out of a total of €722.78m of debts, such suppliers will reportedly only receive €36.78m; the banks, by comparison, will receive 93.46 per cent of what is owed to them, while the state will receive 100 per cent.
