Paluani spa, historic Italian confectionery company from Dossobuono (VR), founded in 1921, was declared bankrupt twigs court of Verona. The company, famous for the production of pandoro, panettone and Easter doves, was owned by Campedelli family, already known for having owned the Chievo Verona, declared football club failure in June last year. In 2022, the production activities of Paluani had already been sold to Sperlari, subsidiary of the German confectionery group Katjes International, for a value of 7,6 million euros at the end of an auction, thus saving 48 jobs and allowing the continuation of the activity, through the transfer of the brand. However, the original company, Paluani Spa, had stayed with i real estate (partly sold) and a debt of about 82 million euros by choosing the arrangement procedure.
Lack of ability to satisfy creditors
The judge Maria Attanasio he considered the financial crisis is too serious of the company also due to the lack of guarantees to ensure the sale of the real estate complex and the coverage of the commitments previously undertaken. Thus, the court has revoked the admission to the arrangement with creditors procedure and declared the company bankrupt. In particular, the poor ability to satisfy creditors. Against the debt of 82 million euros, theavailable amount for the satisfaction of creditors was only 815.660 €. The financial contributions of shareholders and directors, equal to approximately 1,7 million euros, they were without warranty. Furthermore, no legal means had been foreseen to ensure a profitable sale of Dossobuono's real estate assets, further increasing the company's financial difficulties. To further jeopardize corporate accounts also theexposure to the bankrupt Chievo Calcio towards which the company boasted credits and sureties.
At the time of the request for approval of the arrangement, which took place in April 2022, the banks had exposures to Paluani for a total of around 35,5 million euro. Among the institutes, Banca Valsabbina, Banco Bpm, Bper, Caribolzano, Carige, CereaBanca, Crédit Agricole, Credito Valtellinese, Mps, Unicredit.
The judge has appointed curators Matteo Creazzo and Andrea Rossi summoning the creditors on October 23rd for the examination of the liabilities.
Paluani products will continue to be sold
However, it will not be the end of the Veronese brand. Sperlari reassured consumers that i Paluani products will continue to be normally distributed in stores depending on the seasonality of the products. Sperlari had secured the Paluani brand (renamed Paluani 1921) in the summer of last year by participating in an auction (where he was the only bidder) with 7,6 million euros, to which 400 thousand euros were added for inventory valuation.
