Gornji Petrovci, 18 April (STA) - The industrial complex of Moda Mi&Lan, the bankrupt clothing company in the north-eastern region of Prekmurje, has been sold to Hungarian manufacturing company Balind Kft for EUR 326,000.
Balind Kft will become the owner of the 1,500 square metre complex after the transaction is endorsed by court, Drago Dubrovski, the official receiver of Moda Mi&Lan, told the STA.
Dubrovski had attempted to sell what is the key asset of the bankruptcy estate twice before, first at the starting price of just under EUR 530,000, and again for EUR 395,200, but there was no interest.
After the price was lowered to EUR 294,400 in the third attempt two prospective bidders made the deposit by the 10 April deadline. However, only the Hungarian company submitted a bid in the end.
According to information on its website, Balind is a mid-sized company established in 1987. It manufactures series of precision parts for a range of industries and provides services in technology design, machining, cutting, assembly and construction.
Employing around 50 staff in several production facilities, the company supplies the automotive, rail, engineering, aerospace, construction and industrial automation industries.
Located in Gornji Petrovci, Moda Mi&Lan filed for receivership in January 2024 after entrepreneur Joc Pečečnik failed to find staff for a deal with a US client that he said would keep the company afloat as more than half of the employees were due to retire in two years.
Pečečnik's company Elektronček had invested almost EUR 2 million in Moda Mi&Lan, tackled the situation, paid employees back pay, carried out a reorganisation and restored part of production after acquiring 80% of the company in summer 2023.
Moda Mi&Lan had employed many seamstresses from Mura, once Slovenia's flagship fashion company that went bankrupt in 2009 despite multiple attempts to rescue at least some of its parts. The Gornji Petrovci factory was one of those parts.
Dubrovski allowed EUR 1.58 million worth of claims in receivership. Most are priority claims from just over 100 workers for unpaid wages, severance pay and untaken leave. He opposed EUR 2.8 million of the claims, including one by Elektronček for short-term loans made to Moda Mi&Lan.
