Casa Santiveri has avoided bankruptcy by refinancing its debt with banks. The historic Catalan company, specialized in dietetic and nutrition products, has managed to judicially approve a restructuring plan for its financial liabilities, which exceed 11 million euros.
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According to an order published in the Public Bankruptcy Registry, the plan does not contemplate any debt reduction, only deferrals mostly set over a five-year horizon. The refinancing does not affect credits the company may have with public institutions such as CDTI or ICF.
The refinancing plan aims to give a breath of fresh air to the family company, which has more than 140 years of history in the market of dietetic and natural products. The difficulties it faces have led it to a situation of “imminent insolvency,” which occurs prior to bankruptcy. Furthermore, the order details that the plan has been approved non-consensually, that is, without the majority support of creditors but with sufficient backing for one class of liabilities to drag the others along.
According to the order from the commercial court 5 of Barcelona, this situation is due to “insufficient recurring profitability and the historical volatility of results, the weight of fixed costs of the Zona Franca production plant, the complexity of the industrial model as well as the concentration of debt maturities.”
The company invoices 38 million and employs 275 people in a factory in Barcelona and stores throughout Spain
The judge, Florencio Molina, considers that the company can meet the payments of the restructuring plan as it has designed a viability plan between 2026 and 2031 that foresees sustained growth and a progressive improvement in profitability. The company earned 38 million euros and recorded a profit of 190,000 euros in 2024, the latest year with accounts available in the Mercantile Registry.
In any case, the independent expert who supervised the refinancing process warns that the base scenario of the viability plan is “demanding by assuming sustained growth and a progressive improvement of the profit margin that contrasts with the company’s historical volatility.” In fact, Casa Santiveri plans to seek additional financing to strengthen this viability and growth plan. Asked about this plan, the company prefers not to comment.
Anyway, the firm has designed an alternative plan, called “Project Rubicon,” which will be activated if the firm fails to meet its objectives. This plan includes measures such as closing the factory, outsourcing manufacturing, and rationalizing the product catalog.
In any case, no immediate labor impacts are expected. The workforce totals 275 people, according to figures published two years ago in the Mercantile Registry. The company has more than fifty stores throughout Spain, in addition to the production plant in Zona Franca. It also sells its products to supermarkets and third-party stores.
