Millions in debt at bankrupt shoe brand Van Lier, tax authorities miss out

This is evident from the recently published first bankruptcy reports from curator Bart Prinsen.

Van Lier is a Dutch shoe brand with an impressive history dating back to 1815. The company, owned by entrepreneur Geert van Spaendonck since the early 1990s, went bankrupt in August. Three months earlier, its subsidiary, which owned seven stores, had also gone bankrupt.

A week after the bankruptcy, Van Lier made a quick relaunch under the wing of 32-year-old entrepreneur Nick de Ronde Bresser. Former owner Van Spaendonck remains involved with the revived company as a minor shareholder and head of design.

The initial bankruptcy reports for the three different Van Lier companies that went bankrupt in August show that Rabobank, the company's primary bank, was still owed nearly €2.7 million. Because Rabobank held valuable assets as collateral in return, it was able to recover some of that money.

The sale of these business units to the new owner appears to have generated over €1.3 million. Rabo ultimately received over €1.2 million of this amount. This limited the bank's loss to just under €1.5 million.

The Van Lier BV report shows that the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration is losing €1.6 million to that company. The tax authorities are given priority over "regular" creditors in the event of bankruptcy, but are still denied this because the company's bank held Van Lier's valuable assets as collateral.

The UWV benefits agency, which is responsible for the temporary salary payments to the 23 employees in the weeks following the bankruptcy, has not yet filed a claim. According to the report, ordinary creditors are still owed €1.46 million. This means that the bankrupt Van Lier BV alone is left with over €4.5 million in debt.

The subsidiaries Van Lier Shoes and Van Lier Amsterdam , which also went bankrupt in May, also had millions of euros in debt. Van Lier Shoes owed the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration €1.35 million and ordinary creditors €1.8 million. At sister company Baylands Retail, twelve ordinary creditors were still owed over €2.3 million.

When asked, trustee Prinsen notes that all these debts shouldn't simply be added together. This could potentially lead to double counting, as bankrupt companies are sometimes also responsible for sister or subsidiary companies.

The total debt of the Van Lier companies is therefore difficult to calculate. What is clear, however, is that the company that relaunched the shoe brand shortly after the bankruptcy can continue without the millions in debt.

The traditional shoe brand Van Lier has struggled in recent years with the rise of the sneaker, among other things. In the video below, you can see how the traditional leather shoe was "sneakered" out of fashion.