A London judge ordered the shuttering of the UK unit of La Perla, a maker of luxury lingerie, over unpaid tax debts, underlining the pressure facing parent company Tennor Holding BV and its ultimate majority owner, Lars Windhorst.
La Perla Global Management (UK) Limited was wound-up by a High Court judge in London on Wednesday, as the group faced £2.8 million ($3.4 million) of unpaid tax and a petition from His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs. A creditor applies for a court to wind up a company when it wants the business shuttered and its assets sold to repay its debts. HMRC was supported by two other creditors.
The upmarket lingerie firm sells bras that can cost well over £300, as well as other items including nightwear, pyjamas and knickers, according to its website.
The winding up of the business is evidence of the pressure on Windhorst and Tennor from creditors. A subsidiary of the La Perla unit that was shuttered on Wednesday is also facing a separate winding up petition from two Jersey entities called Carlton Tower. HMRC filed a petition against a company called Lars Windhorst Private Office Ltd. earlier this month, according to court filings.
A spokesperson for La Perla told Bloomberg that parent company La Perla Fashion Holding NV is unaffected by the decision and has enough funding “to pay current creditors of La Perla Group”.
“The management team at La Perla is working on resolving these issues as fast as possible,” the person said. “Meanwhile, losses at La Perla have been reduced substantially in 2023 and the company expects to produce a profit in 2024.”
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The petition at the center of Wednesday’s ruling was entered “as long ago as June” Judge Sally Barber said while explaining her decision to grant a winding-up order against the company. “A number of very generous adjournments have been granted to allow the company time to pay,” she said.
A lawyer that appeared for La Perla Global Management in court on Wednesday said that the payment was delayed due to an infusion of cash from the company’s shareholder being blocked, without elaborating as to why. The lawyers said that Tennor Group was going to send the company £12 million in the next 14 days, but the judge refused to grant an adjournment to allow more time for the company’s debts to be repaid.
Windhorst appeared in front of a UK court in July this year, forced to give a run down of his assets as Manfredi Lefevbre D’Ovidio’s Heritage Travel and Tourism Ltd. sought to recover a debt of more than €172 million ($181 million). Tennor Holding, the financier’s investment vehicle, was declared insolvent in the Netherlands in 2021, a ruling later reversed on appeal. He has also faced legal action from shipping magnate Kristian Siem and brokerage ADS Securities.
(Adds comment from La Perla spokesperson in fifth and sixth paragraph)