DVDW magazine Restructuring and the WHOA

Entrepreneurship in financially difficult times

Our society benefits from entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs who are passionate about starting and expanding a business. However, the Covid-19 outbreak and the measures taken in connection with it have had a lot of negative impact on businesses. Deferred taxes will have to be paid either way, while other support measures cannot continue indefinitely either. Moreover, it is questionable whether certain sectors will be able to overcome the huge setbacks of the recent months, despite all the support measures.

When things get worse financially, a force field often emerges that is unknown to many entrepreneurs. From that moment onwards it is not always easy to take measures that can avert the financial tide. With entrepreneurs being optimistic by nature and always seeing opportunities that could avert financial turmoil, it can happen that the view of the future, the reality, gets clouded. And that's a real shame.

Many entrepreneurs are not (yet) familiar with the possibilities of averting financial hardship. Very recently, a new law came into effect in the Netherlands, the Homologation Private Arrangement Act (WHOA). This law makes debt restructuring possible without having to go bankrupt. The first companies have been rescued with the help of the WHOA. Please also refer to fd.nl "Entrepreneur escapes corona bankruptcy thanks to new law”.

Unfortunately, few entrepreneurs are familiar with the WHOA and the possibilities for debt restructuring. For this reason, we have set up a knowledge platform for the WHOA that can be accessed via dvdw.nl. In addition to this, we have created a magazine named ‘Restructuring and the WHOA’ which contains lots of information and interviews on the topic of the WHOA.

If, as an entrepreneur, you get into a crisis, you will need a sounding board. For years we have been that critical sounding board for all kinds of stakeholders. You will realize that you are no longer alone and will see that  we can always find a solution as long as you intervene early enough. Our restructuring practice has extensive experience with restructuring. From healthcare institutions to large construction companies, from retail to real estate. Our experience as trustees comes in handy. Especially in these uncertain times, we are there for you.

This magazine is written in Dutch. Should you be interested in an English translation of one or more articles listed below, please do not hesitate to contact us.

• Feast or Famine
  Shareholders & WHOA
  Marjon Lok
  
• Doing business in Special Management
  Bert Winnemuller
  
• Governance in WHOA: the role of the restructuring expert
  Theo Hanssen
  
• The WHOA in group relationships
  Mieke Olaerts
  
• The homologation in the WHOA: Closing piece of the compulsory settlement process
  Erwin Bos
  
• The impact of the WHOA on suppliers and other contracting parties
  Eveline Kruisifikx