The trustee files for bankruptcy of former sports car builder Spyker

“Despite many promises, he has not paid”, Van Andel told RTL Z. “This afternoon the bankruptcy of Spyker NV is being filed.”

Spyker director Muller says he finds the application annoying, but is not very concerned about it. “Spyker NV is an empty shell. Since 2015, the activities are part of another company, Spyker Ltd.”

Commitments

Van Andel is the trustee who settles the bankruptcy of subsidiary Spyker Events from 2014. He claimed part of the damage in that bankruptcy from parent company Spyker NV. Last summer he concluded a payment agreement with director Muller for 52,000 euros.

Despite that agreement, never a cent was paid. Quarter after quarter, Muller continued to hold the trustee on the line with vague promises, hard promises and documents that had to prove that the money was now really about to be transferred.

At the end of August it seemed for a while that the long wait had made sense. Spyker Ltd announced it had raised ‘tens of millions’ from wealthy Russian financiers. With that money, the company could rise from the ashes. Muller announced that he would start building new cars again and also pay the trustee.

However, payment was also not made after that. At the beginning of October, Van Andel already threatened to file for bankruptcy if he did not receive the money soon. But again he allowed himself to be postponed.

At the beginning of last week, the bankruptcy trustee announced that he would file for bankruptcy within two days. That was eventually extended by an extra week. Today his patience has really come to an end.

More creditors

Van Andel confirms that his claim amounts to 52,000 euros. “But Spyker NV has more debt,” he says. “The tax authorities also have a claim.” The court will assess in the coming weeks whether the bankruptcy application will be granted.

Spyker CEO Muller confirms that Van Andel has not yet been paid. “I am completely dependent on a sales transaction for this. I first have to receive the money myself. The trustee has undeniably had a lot of patience, but will get everything from me. If he files for bankruptcy, I obviously cannot stop him.”

Muller says he expects to be able to prevent the actual bankruptcy ruling by still paying. According to the CEO, this makes no difference to his ambitious plans with Spyker Ltd. “The trustee thinks he can exert pressure with this, but it makes no sense. The Ltd. is separate from the NV.”

Sell ​​trademark rights

Van Andel and the tax authorities are not the only ones who want to see money from Spyker. The trustee of a second bankrupt subsidiary, Spyker Services, also has a substantial claim on the company.

Spyker Services was Spyker’s maintenance company, which went bankrupt at the beginning of this year. Bankruptcy trustee Dennis Steffens made a deal with Muller in August, who promised to indemnify all creditors. This involved an amount of more than 800,000 euros.

But Steffens didn’t get a penny either. “It is very disappointing. Muller signed his signature after five and six months, but is simply not honoring the deal. I have now started preparing for the sale of the trademark rights, which are in the estate.”

According to the curator, this includes the rights to the brand and logos of Spyker. This also includes the Latin motto, which means ‘no road is impassable for persistent people.’

Spyker’s vanished shine

Spyker Cars started making around 2000 exclusive sports cars, intended for the very rich in the world. After a turbulent period, the company went bust in 2014. Thanks to an agreement with the creditors, CEO Victor Muller was able to reverse that bankruptcy, but since then the car builder has been dying.

The company no longer or hardly produced any cars, and was haunted by the above claim from the curator of marketing subsidiary Spyker Events.

That Spyker no longer has the shine of the past is also evident from its new business address. In the past, the company formally moved to Coventry, UK, where the sports cars were assembled. The register of the Chamber of Commerce shows that Spyker NV has recently returned to the Netherlands.

While Spyker Ltd stated in August that it would open an ‘international flagship store in Monaco’, Spyker NV has now established itself at the address of a modest printer shop in Weissenbruchstraat in The Hague.