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The official receivers’ report for Onoff Sverige AB was sent to the district court
The official receiver for Onoff Sverige AB, attorney at law Mr Lars Eric Gustafsson, has now established his report under chapter 7 section 15 of the Swedish Bankruptcy Act which was sent to Attunda District Court and the Swedish Supervisory Authority in Bankruptcy Proceedings and other parties involved on March 30th, 2012.
Upon the declaration of bankruptcy on July 11 2011 Onoff Sverige AB's assets consisted essentially of 67 consumer electronics stores in Sweden, an online store, and a Finnish branch containing one store and one online store. Additionally, six stores were run by the Estonian subsidiary AS Onoff Eesti.
Onoff Sverige AB has essentially been phased out through the operation of the bankruptcy estate which lasted from July 11 2011 to August 1, 2011 after which all non-acquired stores were finally closed.
During the above mentioned operation negotiations were carried out with several prospective buyers for all or part of the company. After evaluation of the various speculators’ indicative bids it was found that Expert Stormarknad Sverige AB had submitted the most advantageous bid, after which an agreement was reached whereby 30 stores with inventories and stocks and the remaining inventory at the central warehouse in Linköping were transferred to Expert.
Also, the shares of the Estonian subsidiary AS Onoff Eesti have been transferred to a new owner.
Upon examination of Onoff Sverige AB’s accounting records, which have been executed in collaboration with auditors from Grant Thornton, the official receiver has not found any reason to criticize Onoff Sverige AB’s board of directors (Board of Directors)regarding the accounting records.
The bankruptcy examination has further shown that the balance sheet for liquidation purposes established by Onoff on March 31 2011 had been established in due time and correctly. It may be observed that the obligation to establish a new balance sheet for liquidation purposes reappeared at the beginning of July 2011, however, the time limit for establishing a new balance sheet had not expired when the bankruptcy was announced. Therefore, there is no reason to criticize the Board of Directors in this regard. Moreover, the bankruptcy examination shows that the Board of Directors has been very diligent and attentive in its handling of the matter.
Work remains in the bankruptcy proceedings regarding the sale of remaining inventory and stock items and very extensive tasks regarding the collection of accounts receivable that were outstanding at the time of the declaration of bankruptcy. Wage handling for the 1,100 employees of Onoff Sverige AB is still ongoing.
The investigation concerning possible recoverable transactions is in progress and may be subject to judicial adjudication. A filing for proofs of claim procedure is expected to commence in the autumn of 2012.
