The main friction points of the shareholders in Klukinas – Lappas

By Giorgos Lampiris

A key point of contention is said to be the moves made by Kloukinas-Lappas in the last period of time between the main shareholders, namely the Lappa family (31.48% is held by Ioannis Lappas and 10.79% by Violetta Lappa) and also shareholder, Loukas Spenzaris, who is the shareholder with the largest percentage, i.e. 27.92%. The position of the current administration, whose president and managing director is Ioannis Lappa and managing director Violetta Lappa, is concentrated in the strategy of stopping activities, which are deemed unprofitable for the profitability and wider operation of the group. Such cases in the past have been the shutdown of the Mothercare main store on Ermou Street, whose products are distributed in Greece by Kloukinas Lappas, as well as the lease of the store to Adidas, which created its new store that started operating at the end of this June.

Serbia Market Next Steps Under Consideration – 3.97% Turnover Growth in H1 2022

At the same time, the possibility of corrective actions in markets outside of Greece, where the Klukina-Lappa group is currently active, is being investigated, where decisions regarding its presence in the Serbian market, where it maintains two retail outlets, are currently being considered. In this particular market, it is not excluded that there will be decisions in the near future that could determine the continuation or not of the presence of Klukina-Lappa there. At the same time during 2021, the company closed one of its stores and opened a new one, as part of a review of its activity in this market. In particular, in January 2021, the 100% subsidiary of the group, SC SYSMEROM COM SRL, stopped the operation of its loss-making store in the city of Costanta, in the City Park Mall of Constanta. In September 2021, it opened its sixth store in Bucharest, in the Promenada shopping center. In total, the increase in sales in Romania for 2021 amounted to 53.92% compared to 2020. We remind you that in 2020 the group had proceeded to shut down the only store of the subsidiary company in Bulgaria, KLM Bulgaria EOOD.

In September 2021, the subsidiary company, under the name KLMS KOM DOOEL based in North Macedonia, proceeded to terminate the lease and stop the operation of the only store operated by this subsidiary, due to the ongoing negative impact of the pandemic.

At the same time, the Klukina-Lappa group moved with a sales increase of 3.97% in the first half of 2022 compared to 2021.

The confrontation between the two sides continued in the recent general assembly

The recent general assembly highlighted once again the distances between the two sides, with the Spenzaris side being represented by its two legal advisors and him being absent from the process, having requested a week earlier for its postponement. The objections of Mr. Spendzaris were related to questions filed by his two legal representatives, where, among other things, they claimed that the company is under the control of the Capital Market Commission and that at the same time a tax audit is underway for the year 2021, claims denied by management side. As stated by Ioannis Lappa and Violetta Lappa, the case concerning the Capital Market Commission concerned a letter with questions sent by the authority to the company’s management, with the company’s lawyer characterizing it as “business as usual”. . As pointed out in this regard, the required answers have been given by the management to the Commission, without there being anything objectionable about the process. Regarding the tax audit, it was clarified by the administration that there is an audit request from the competent tax authority from the first half of 2021, however it was made clear that no audit has currently been carried out for past financial years.

The confrontation between the two sides has reached the threshold of the Greek justice system, with Loukas Spenzaris having appealed to the Single-Member Court of First Instance of Athens, requesting an extraordinary audit of the company, a procedure which, after being postponed, was postponed until next fall.

We will remind you that Kloukinas – Lappas was initially active as a technical company, then acquiring the company Papagiannis SA. which retained the rights to develop the Mothercare brand.