The two offers are “serious in terms of staff development and recovery”explains Me Emmanuelle Bouillon, appointed legal representative. She declares herself “very happy” because it is “two beautiful projects. In my opinion, the court should approve one of the two offers. The better of the two will win. The idea is to make the transfer a reality by December 1st.” Staff have the opportunity to provide feedback during the court hearing. If Mehmet Sandurac’s candidacy is successful, the bookstore could move to the former BMW showroom, located on Boulevard de Waterloo.
A page turns for Marc Filipson
Let’s be clear: it is not the company that owns Filigranes (called Intell and of which Marc Filipson is the sole shareholder) that is being sold, but rather the activities. We are in the scenario of a transfer under judicial authority. The money that will be disbursed – we are talking about several hundred thousand euros – will be used to pay the debts of the company Intell. It will then be necessary to see whether the latter will be declared bankrupt or liquidated. What is certain is that for Marc Filipson, the founder of Filigranes, this is an important page that is turning. You could even say that it’s the end of a story. The brand he created almost 40 years ago will no longer belong to him. And no euro paid by the buyer will go into the pocket of the historic shareholder.
Expected timing
If the court confirms one of the two offers, the timing of the Judicial Reorganization Procedure (PRJ), which started in September, will therefore have been largely respected. Indeed, the various parties concerned hoped for a conclusion by December 1, so as not to compromise the holiday period conducive to the sale of books and other objects available in the 3 Filigranes stores (two in Brussels and one in Knokke). And it is certain that the successful buyer will keep the Filigranes name which is well known to the general public.
We remember that the PRJ could not be avoided due to past debts (around 3 million euros) which were impossible to repay. Véronique Croisé, the director appointed in 2022 at the request of staff, had tried to redress the situation. But without success. “The core business was working well but the company had grown without organization. There was no financial balance,” she explained to us a few weeks ago, without hiding her disappointment.
