Mithra, a Walloon pharmaceutical company specializing in women’s health products, has applied for judicial protection at the Liège corporate court. The company is seeking a transfer procedure under judicial authority for its Mithra CDMO department in Flémalle, which offers protection against creditors and involves a legal representative appointed by the court to find a buyer for the company or its parts. Additionally, Mithra has requested a judicial reorganization procedure for its branch Novalon to reach an agreement with creditors and restructure its debt, while also asking for two months of protection against all creditors to carry out these procedures.
The recent resignation of the CEO has led to economic unemployment for a quarter of the staff, approved by the RVA. Mithra was founded 25 years ago by François Fornieri and Dr. Jean-Michel Foidart, and employs around 230 people. The company reported a significant loss of 173.5 million euros in the previous year, partly due to write-downs on assets. Mithra’s turnover also decreased from 67 million to 40.2 million euros.
Mithra initiated a sales process in early February to sell parts or all of its activities to raise necessary funds. The company has identified potential buyers for parts of the business and enlisted Stifel Investment Bank to assist in the sales process. Despite the challenges faced by Mithra, it continues to work towards finding solutions to its financial difficulties and restructuring itself as part of this process.
As of February 19th, the main shareholders of Mithra include François Fornieri, Armistice Capital, Noshaq (the Walloon government holding company) and Alychlo (linked to entrepreneur Marc Coucke). Although Alychlo has reduced their stake in Mithra, it remains committed to working with them towards resolving their financial difficulties.
In summary, Mithra is seeking protection against creditors through transfer procedure under judicial authority as well as restructuring their debt through judicial reorganization procedure while protecting themselves from all creditors during this period of time so that they can explore selling parts or all of their activities
