Marinopoulos stores to don Sklavenitis logo

As soon as Sklavenitis completes its assessment of the troubled Marinopoulos supermarket chain it is set to take over, including the absorption of a section of its subsidiaries’ assets and liabilities, the Marinopoulos stores around Greece will start operating under the Sklavenitis logo, according to a letter sent by Stelios Sklavenitis to Marinopoulos’s suppliers, in which the owner asks them to participate in the streamlining process of the near-bankrupt chain.

The letter, dated September 23, reached suppliers yesterday, which was also the deadline for an- swers from those willing to take a 50 percent haircut on the money owed to them by Marinopoulos.

In his letter, Sklavenitis explains why his company is endeavoring to save Marinopoulos, while stressing that the new company created and fully owned by Sklavenitis has nothing to do with Marinopoulos. He reminds suppliers of the good relationship Sklavenitis has with them, and suggests that if the streamlining agreement were to fail they wouldn’t receive any of the money owed to them.

“The non-achievement of the necessary consent, given that no other sustainable plan to streamline the company has been submitted, woud make any debt repayment to suppliers on behalf of the Marinopoulos group impossible,” Sklavenitis wrote in his letter.

The letter is seen by many as an indication of concern by Sklavenitis regarding the completion of the agreement with Marinopoulos, its suppliers and its creditor banks. Sources say several suppliers will not agree before they have read the full agreement, but this will only be made available to them only after they consent to a haircut.