Folli's CEO vows to stay on and steer talks on restructuring

Folli Follie SA

30/09/2018 12:24

ATHENS, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Troubled Greek jewellery maker
Folli Follie  HDFr.AT  is seeking potential investors to support
its restructuring plans, the company's chief executive said in a
newspaper interview published on Sunday. 
    A preliminary audit last week revealed big financial
discrepancies in Folli's Asian business, prompting Chairman
Dimitrios Koutsolioutsos and vice-chairperson Ekaterini
Koutsolioutsou, the couple who jointly founded the firm in 1982,
to step down. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1WC4LZ
    Dimitris Koutsolioutsos owns a 35 percent stake in Folli,
while China's Fosun holds 15 percent, according to Reuters data.
    Chief Executive George Koutsolioutsos, the son of the
founders, distanced himself from his father and vowed to stay on
to help reshape the company and protect its employees, partners
and suppliers who he said numbered more than 10,000. 
    "My departure would facilitate many people, who want the
group to collapse and benefit from its distress sale," George
Koutsolioutsos said in interview with the Sunday edition of
newspaper Kathimerini.
    He added that he had run the European operations and had no
control over the business in Asia.
    "Personally, I was responsible for the European part. I
wasn't in a position to have any sort of control of the Asian
(operations)," he said.
    "I'm in the unfortunate position of confirming the rumours
in the press all these years, that there is a rift with my very
own father in our perception of the group's future."
    Koutsolioutsos said he has been in talks with strategic
investors which could help in the group's restructuring. He
declined to disclose their names or any details, citing
confidentiality agreements.   
    "I believe that I am part of this solution and right now,
abandoning the ship is simply an act of cowardice," he said.
    Folli's shares plunged in May after equity fund
Quintessential Capital Management (QCM) raised concerns over
2017 finances of its Asian operations, prompting the Greek
securities regulator to suspend trading of the shares on May 25
after the firm failed to provide requested financial data.
    Folli has hired Alvarez and Marsal for a financial audit and
has won a temporary protection of its assets from creditors
until next month.

 (Reporting Renee Maltezou and Angeliki Koutantou
Editing by Keith Weir)
 ((angeliki.koutantou@thomsonreuters.com; +30 210 3376436;
Reuters Messaging: angeliki.koutantou.reuters.com@reuters.net))