Bankrupt potato processing company CêlaVíta in Wezep will not be making a restart after all, trustee Frans Aartsen announced on Tuesday. According to him, candidates pulled out because of "the size and complexity of the production facility." The plant's complicated ownership structure also made a restart difficult. In the coming period, the trustee will hold consultations with various stakeholders on how to proceed with dismantling the production facility. Production at the Wezep plant came to a halt last month when the company filed for bankruptcy. Layoffs were requested for all 171 employees.
Last month, Aartsen reported that about ten candidates had come forward to take over the company. "How serious they are remains to be seen. But based on the first estimate, we are hopeful, also because of the number of candidates," the trustee said earlier. CêlaVíta was previously owned by chip manufacturer McCain, which sold it to investor Nimbus in early March last year. That investment company did not come forward as a candidate for a restart, according to Aartsen.
Potato grower Bert Slöetjes is not surprised that the company will not relaunch. "Knowing the potato market, there is nobody who wants to take over at this moment," he told Omroep Gelderland. This has left him with some 15,000 tonnes of potatoes unsold. "We can only wait and see. Fortunately, you can store potatoes for a while. So it's a matter of whether another buyer comes along and how much we can still sell in the coming months."
A consultation with stakeholders is planned to decide on further steps. These include McCain and Nimbus, as well as the Tax Authority. According to Aartsen, this will eventually lead to dismantling the plant. The CêlaVíta building must be vacated by the end of November, as that is when the lease agreement with Nimbus ends and the factory must be handed over empty. The contract was terminated at an earlier stage. Aartsen described the task as "a challenge" in De Stentor.
Source: Omroep Gelderland / De Stentor / NOS