Mikael Kubu at Ackordscentralen Stockholm has been appointed as reconstructor.
"We will now bring in Mikael Kubu into the situation and agree on the continued process. The first step in the reconstruction will be to contact our landlords and initiate a dialogue about the future cooperation and terms for operating stores in Sweden," says Jesper Lien, CEO of Plantasjen Group, in a press release.
All stores in Sweden will remain open for the time being.
The stores will remain open for the time being on all three markets: Sweden, Norway, and Finland, says Josefine Uppling, communications director at Ratos, the parent company of the entire Plantasjen group, where the Plantagen stores in Sweden are included, to TT.
The Share Fell
The Ratos share fell by 5 percent in the initial trading on the Stockholm Stock Exchange after the announcement.
Plantasjen's store chains in Norway and Finland will also be restructured, according to the plan. However, the group's purchasing and logistics division will continue its operations as before.
Uppling says that the reconstruction process looks slightly different in the three countries and that it may affect the timeline.
The focus of the reconstruction is that we will adapt the store network and renegotiate our rental agreements. This will lead to an adjustment of the organization's size.
A consequence will be that the workforce will likely need to be reduced.
It can absolutely be a possible outcome.
"Different Cost Structure"
Ratos points out high inflation – which has pushed up costs and dampened consumer purchasing power – as the main explanation for the garden chain's financial problems.
We believe in Plantagen and the whole purpose of this reconstruction is to create a long-term viable company that will survive. We have a very good plan, we think, says Uppling.
She cannot say anything about the extent of the cuts in terms of the number of stores or staff.
No. It's important that this process has its course. I don't want to preempt it.
Ratos is a Stockholm-based conglomerate consisting of 17 subsidiaries, where Plantasjen – with the store chain Plantagen – is included.
