VanMoof had debts of about 144 million euros when it went bust

Electric bike manufacturer VanMoof had 143.8 million euros in debts when it went bankrupt, Financieele Dagblad reports based on documents submitted to a court in New York by the bankruptcy administrators.

The documents are part of an application to suspend pending proceedings in the United States from a VanMoof customer who had an accident, bankruptcy administrator Jan Padberg told FD.

They show VanMoof had three major creditors. Lenders led by American venture capitalist TriplePoint lent VanMoof 77.9 million euros. The bike company owed 50.6 million euros to suppliers and other business partners. And it also had 15.3 million euros in tax debts, including 12.1 million euros owed to the Dutch Tax Authority.

The documents also show that VanMoof was trying hard to avert bankruptcy. “Until very recently, there were several concrete options for VanMoof to obtain additional financing or to be acquired,” bankruptcy administrators Padberg and Robin de Wit wrote in the documents. When these options disappeared, VanMoof ran into liquidity problems.

The company was granted a deferment of payment on July 12 and declared bankrupt about a week later.

Padberg hopes to provide clarity about a possible restart for VanMoof soon. Interested parties have until this morning to submit their final offers. “We then determine with whom we will negotiate exclusively. Then I think a few more days are needed. We are deep into injury time.”

These talks are taking longer than the bankruptcy administrators expected. Padberg also hoped to give clarity on a restart at the start of last week.

The restart is also under time pressure. The Dutch benefits agency UWV will pay the salaries of VanMoof employees until August 30, Padberg said. After that, the restarter will buy a company without employees. “We want to be done before then,” Padberg told FD.