Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Electronics retail chain Teknikmagasinet and its parent company Release has declared bankruptcy, affecting 138 employees in Norway and 220 employees in Sweden. The company cites declining demand and a difficult market situation with less customers and falling revenue in the second half of 2023 as the main reason for the bankruptcy. The chain has 24 stores in Norway and underwent a bankruptcy in 2020 before being sold to Release in 2022. Following the bankruptcy in January 2024, the estate was recently bought by Bjarøy Handel, with the aim of liquidating assets through clearance sales and resale of individual stores that may have a possibility of continuing operation. Teknikmagasinet will most likely not continue to exist as a chain, however. A number of Teknikmagasinet's employees have been offered shor-term contracts with a duration of two to four weeks, with the aim of conducting clearance sales.
Shop steward and national safety representative in Teknikmagasinet, Nichlas Sæther Håvik, has criticized management for insufficient information to employees prior to the bankruptcy. However, the information from the bankruptcy estate, the current process and the fact that employees have retained their original pay- and working conditions in the short-term contracts with the new owner, is described in more positive terms.
Eurofound (2024), Teknikmagasinet, Bankruptcy in Norway, factsheet number 200737, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/200737.
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