Folli Follie: Who wants to conquer the Koutsolioutsos “fortress”

Giorgos Samios, president and CEO of Folli Follie, states that he is ready for a “frontal attack” in order for the company to recover and reclaim its position in the industry.

However, according to the CEO (he was appointed to the position of head at the request of the Capital Market Commission) the intentions and hard work of the management and the approximately 1,000 employees are not enough, as the recovery of the fragile Folli Follie is in danger of being brought down due to new delays in the criminal trial of the company’s former executives and other individuals facing a series of felonies.

And the reason is the “freezing” of real estate amounting to 27 million euros and the bank accounts of the amount of 3 million euros of the company, which were frozen during the criminal pre-trial on combating money laundering.

Without the transfer of the properties to the creditors, the reorganization agreement, which was approved by the bankruptcy court, cannot be implemented, Mr. Samios points out.

It is noted that due to the abstention of the lawyers (related to the amendment of article 187 of the Criminal Code for trials involving a criminal organization which they consider to be unconstitutional), this particular court was postponed until June 2023.

The recovery plan is on course

However, according to Mr. Samios, the plan to bring the company back on track is being served to the letter.

Already, the new parent company of the bondholders has been established in Luxembourg (FF AssetsCo), as well as the subsidiary to which the assets and liabilities will be transferred (FF OpsCo), while the Greek subsidiary is also expected to be established in the next period. At the same time, there will also be the old company which will remain “active” until the trial of the case.

What solutions are being considered?

Despite this, the management is not idle and is looking for liquidity solutions in every way.

One of them is the rental of Folli Follie’s headquarters in Agios Stefanos.

According to Mr. Samios, the interest is strong. According to information, prospective users of the impressive buildings come from the services and consumer goods industries. In fact, there was also interest from a large soft drink company.

In the neighboring building, which is also owned by the group, Folli Follie has leased premises to the Duty Free subsidiary while also considering the utilization of other premises it has in its portfolio.

Two huge lamps

With a panoramic view, especially the upper floor of the administration where the offices of the Koutsoliutsos family were, two ultra-luxurious suites, a basketball court and even a helipad (the helicopter that the family members loved so much landed and took off there), the former “headquarters” of the Koutsolioutson at the 23rd kilometer of the Athens – Lamia highway, at the junction of Ag. Stefanou, with a total area of 11,000 sq.m., consists of two glass buildings.

The design is by the architects Maria Kokkinou, Andreas Kourkoulas, Antonia Panou, Katerina Papandreou and George Nikolopoulos.

Although all the structures on either side of the freeway have been erected parallel to the flow of the road, the cylindrical glass facades of the two buildings of the long-suffering company project towards the road like two huge lamps.

The office complex, which houses, among other things, an atelier, a jewelry workshop, a large amphitheater and a Folli Follie pilot store, began construction in 1998 and was completed in 2004.

Their facades are made of special glass (okalux) that achieves a high thermal insulation index and the south-west facades are protected by perforated aluminum blinds.

It is recalled that the total value of the properties  exceeds 80 million euros. Among the vacant properties, Minion has already been sold to Dimand for a price of 26 million euros.

Opening of 8 new stores

In 2022, Folli Follie’s sales will reach €38 million with the jewelery sector (Folli Follie and Links of London) showing a 47% increase compared to last year and clothing improving by 24%. For the new year, the operation of 8 new stores, mainly of the Jack & Jones brand, is planned.

It is noted that the loss of turnover from Nike – approximately 5.5 – 6 million euros has been covered by 20-30% by the new collaborations in the field of clothing, such as Jack & Jones, Beverly Hills Polo Club, Kendall+Kylie, etc. etc., but also older ones (Collective Sports, Factory Outlets).

The company currently has 100 stores in Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania from the 630 that the Koutsoliutsos had claimed to have had before the huge financial scandal broke out and it turned out that the number of points of sale was less than 290.