Groundforce to be restructured

The Portuguese baggage handling company Groundforce is likely to see an insolvency and restructuring plan and a new majority shareholder within a matter of weeks.

The decision will be officially announced on September 27, two years after Portugal’s national airline company TAP announced it was filing for bankruptcy for the company which it took control over after the previous main shareholder, removals king Alfredo Casimiro ran out of money to keep the business going.
News about the meeting of the assembly of creditors was set for August 11 by a judge at Lisbon’s commercial court (Tribunal Judicial da Comarca de Lisboa), giving creditors 10 days to inform their attendance or not.
Creditors are seeking to claw back around €47 million in debs from the handling company, including €15.5 million owed to TAP, €12.75 million to airports management company ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal, and €2.1 million to the insurer Fidelidade.
Another €2.7 million part of the pie is owed to the employees in credits.
The insolvency plan drawn up by directors Bruno Costa Pereira and Pedro Piwell foresees a reduction in capital to zero to clean the books of losses and pave the way for a new shareholder, which is the British company Menzies held by Kuwaiti holding Agility which will have a 50.1% capital share with the rest controlled by TAP through credit conversions.
Alfredo Casimiro had contested the decision from the court and appealed to the constitutional court but lost his case, paving the way for the new shareholder to legally replace his shareholding in Groundforce.