Supermarkets held by Sonae and Satya Capital in Maputo close, file for insolvency

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Supermarkets held by Sonae and Satya Capital in Maputo close, file for insolvency

6:57 CAT | 02 Oct 2018

File photo: O País

The company S2, 30% owned by the Portuguese group Sonae, today closed its three ‘Central’ supermarkets in the Mozambican capital and filed an insolvency plea, according to a notice of the group addressed to the workers and to which Lusa had access.

Lusa reports that all three ‘Central’ supermarkets – located in Jat Building, Maputo CBD, Avenida de Angola and Bairro do Zimpeto – are closed.

Security guards at Jat told Lusa that the supermarket worked normally on Monday and that workers were caught by surprise today with the store’s closure.

Lusa also visited the office indicated in the notice as the company’s headquarters, where a company lawyer confirmed that S2 had filed an insolvency plea, but without giving further details.

S2 is owned 30% by Sonae and 70% by Satya Capital and has operated in the Mozambican market since 2016.

In the notice, signed by the company’s chairman, Miguel Seixas, he says he was forced to file for insolvency at the Maputo City Judicial Court because of “the impossibility of continuing to operate in the Mozambican market” because of “a sharp drop in consumption of families. ”

The current situation has caused a deterioration of the company’s economic situation due to the reduction in sales since the beginning of the operation in Mozambique and the high production costs.

The notice points out that “despite all the efforts made by the society, it is not expected that the necessary levels of sales will be reached”.

“There were also several negotiations with potential interested parties for the acquisition of the business of the company, however, no offer was actually made, and the reasons for this were related mainly to the high fixed operating costs, given the current economic situation of the country,” reads the communique.

S2 states that the legal proceedings instituted in connection with the insolvency application will end with the payment, “if possible,” of the company’s debts, including to employees.

A source close to one of the workers told Lusa that salaries have been paid in due time. This way, only payments related to termination of contracts remain outstanding.

ALSO READ: Sonae justifies closure of supermarkets in Maputo with decision of majority shareholders

Source: Lusa