The remaining Be You GmbH company, which emerged from the insolvency of the former Beate Uhse AG, submitted its insolvency filing to the Flensburg Local Court last Wednesday. Recently it was also announced that the Dutch company EDC Wholesale will take over the online business of the Flensburg-based group. Is this the end of the venerable history of what was once Germany’s largest adult retailer?
In addition to be you GmbH, the subsidiaries Beate Uhse Einzelhandels GmbH, Beate Uhse Fun Center and Versa Distanzhandel that emerged from the restructuring also had to file for insolvency.
After several years of crisis, during which the group’s sales slumped drastically, numerous personnel changes and delayed annual financial statements, Beate Uhse finally had to file for insolvency last year.
Just a few months later, the Flensburg-based company seemed more optimistic about its future. The former creditor Robus Capital had become its largest shareholder. And even though the number of employees was drastically reduced from 500 to 150, the new management seemed to be able to make a positive prognosis for the future. Michael Specht, who had been chairman of the board during the crisis and had led the company through insolvency proceedings, resigned in February and gave the impression that be you was fully financed at least until the end of the year.
Retrospectively, however, the slightly cautious wording in his farewell statement today might be seen as a cautious warning: “I see very good opportunities for the future development of the be you Group and my assignment has been fulfilled to such an extent that I would like to devote more time to my family in the future. “As Wirtschaftswoche reports, further jobs are to be cut and potentially sites will also be closed. This is likely to affect bricks-and-mortar retailing in particular, as online retailing has already been sold to EDC Wholesale.
Beate Uhse is still one of the best-known brands in the German adult market. It is currently unclear whether at all and in what form an independent company, possibly based in Germany, will continue to sell erotic products under the label in the future. According to Wirtschaftswoche, Sven-Holger Undritz of White&Case was appointed insolvency administrator. He had already headed Beate Uhse’s first insolvency proceedings.