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YT Industries Begins Restructuring Under Self-Administration (www.pinkbike.com)

submitted 3 days ago by hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/bicycling@lemmy.world

8 comments fedilink hide all child comments

YT Industries GmbH has initiated a legal restructuring process under German law, entering into self-administration to secure the company's future.

In a press release from YT Industries, the German-based brand said "despite strong global growth and a loyal customer base", it has been "severely impacted by the global discounting battle in the bike industry, problems with suppliers and uncertainty in the US market related to tariff policies." YT Industries said it was "compelled" to enter legal restructuring proceedings under self-administration as the company has "no further funding available under the current structure."

Markus Flossmann, founder and CEO of YT Industries, said it was "not an easy step for YT, but a necessary measure to actively shape the future of the brand." Flossmann added: "We are already in discussions with potential new partners and are confident that we'll be back on track soon."

Currently, YT Industries remains fully operational with business continuing as normal during the restructuring process. Customer service and warranty support continue to be available and new product launches are still on track to launch in the coming months.

For any further support, YT Industries said its customer support can still be reached through email and the North American entity of YT is unaffected.

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[–] hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

But also, comment from that article

YT will continue to operate as normal, with customer support for any riders."

This is simply not true. YT ran a 50% flash sale to do a cash grab from customers in full knowledge they were going to declare insolvency. See email I received from them today below. All the while, their website remains operational and taking new orders.

I, alongside 2 other friends, ordered bikes 25-Jun-25 during what appeared to be a flash 50% sale. Most bikes in all sizes went out of stock within 24 hours. My confirmation email stated the bike would be ready for collection at their Guildford, UK store within 12 working days e.g. 11-Jul. I called the Guildford, UK store 11-Jul and they confirmed my bike was due to be shipped and arrive at the Guildford store this week ready for collection.

I subsequently received the following email today:

"Hello Young Talent,

We regret to inform you that, due to ongoing insolvency proceedings, your order 1026296 has been put on hold. As your payment was received before the proceedings officially began, it is legally considered part of the insolvency estate.

At this stage, we are unable to issue refunds or provide further details about the status of your payment. We understand how frustrating and disappointing this situation is, especially without a clear resolution.

If you wish to explore your options, we recommend reaching out to your payment provider to inquire about potential next steps.

We truly regret that we cannot offer you a better solution at the moment, and we’re very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused.

Thank you again for your patience and understanding.

Sincerely,
Your YT Industries Team"

[–] brot@feddit.org 2 points 18 hours ago

Wow, that's scummy

[–] Successful_Try543@feddit.org 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

YT ran a 50% flash sale to do a cash grab from customers in full knowledge they were going to declare insolvency.

This is a criminal offence (Insolvenzverschleppung).

We regret to inform you that, due to ongoing insolvency proceedings, your order 1026296 has been put on hold. As your payment was received before the proceedings officially began, it is legally considered part of the insolvency estate.

This is unfortunate, but normal when a company is insolvent. By paying in advance you have become a creditor and have to get in line with all the other cretitors in the hope to get at least something back.

[–] hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

YT ran a 50% flash sale to do a cash grab from customers in full knowledge they were going to declare insolvency.

This is a criminal offence (Insolvenzverschleppung).

Yep, but someone would need to take them to court for that and prove that YT/Ardian knew about it. I guess it's very easy to say "we tried to save the company from insolvency with big sales" or some bullshit

IANAL tho, so idk

[–] Successful_Try543@feddit.org 0 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I doubt it's going to be that easy for the management to refute the allegations. Giving special offers doesn't generate more profit. It just artificially pushes the number of customers which may be beneficial when searching an investor. Otherwise it remains some kind of snow ball scheme.

However, somebody has to sue them first. The consumer protection offices (Verbraucherzentralen) are always somebody to ask for advice.

[–] LovesTha@floss.social 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

@Successful_Try543 @hemko I'm sure there is some language/legal jurisdiction differences, but isn't suing for illegal but not criminal things and charges are for criminal acts and always brought by the state?

Operating while insolvent feels like more of a criminal thing to me, more than an illegal act.

[–] Successful_Try543@feddit.org 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

~~Yes, it's a criminal act (Straftat). Yet, someone needs to inform the state/police first. This is only not necessary for a so called Offizialdelikt, like e.g. murder. I don't know whether that's the case for economic crimes like this.~~

The Verbraucherzentrale may give advice for the financial part, i.e. how to get some of the money back and how to file the management for compensation.

Edit: In case of insolvence, the public persecutor always investigates for Insolvenzverschleppung and thus it's likely an Offizialdelikt regarding the criminal process. However to sue the management for compensation in a separate civil process, action is required by the ones that have lost their money.

[–] hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 2 days ago

In 2021 the company was sold to a private equity firm, so I guess the cash grab and dump was expected

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/yt-industries-acquired-by-private-equity-group-ardian.html