A Swiss court has initiated bankruptcy proceedings against Proper Group over an unpaid invoice of 23,000 Swiss francs (equivalent to £20,200).
Proper is the key player in physical music and video distribution in the UK. It opened the biggest distribution warehouse in the country last year.
The court ruling comes ahead of the busy Q4 period for physical music, at a time when combined format sales are on coure for their first increase in 20 years.
Proper Group said it was unaware that the claimant, Zug-based law firm MME Legal, had initiated proceedings and consequently missed a hearing on Tuesday (September 24). As a result, the court issued a default ruling in favour of MME Legal.
Proper Group immediately settled the debt on September 25 and is confident its appeal will halt proceedings. The deadline for the appeal to be submitted is October 7.
A spokesperson for Proper Group AG said: “We are disappointed that bankruptcy proceedings have been triggered. Our company was unfortunately unaware that legal proceedings over a minor debt were taking place, and as a result we were not represented at the court hearing. Our debt has now been settled and we are of course appealing this decision. Recent positive developments in the business have placed us on track to near-term cash flow positivity, with clear prospects of profitability by 2025, so we expect to reach a favourable outcome.”
Recent positive developments in the business have placed us on track to near-term cash flow positivity
Proper Group
In May, Swiss music tech company Utopia confirmed its rebrand as Proper Group and a strategic repositioning for the company.
Proper Group announced it would move operational activities to London, to bring it closer to its European music industry clients and commercial interests.
In January, leadership at Utopia transitioned from Mattias Hjelmstedt to Michael Stebler, who assumed the role of CEO to oversee strategic realignment on an interim basis. With Stebler set to exit as chief executive, the company will focus its efforts on two areas – distribution and music tech.
Proper Distribution’s is now led by Drew Hill, who is CEO of the distribution division and payment-related services.
Meanwhile, the company’s music tech division encompasses Proper Payments, Proper Processing, and Proper Music Data and focuses on accelerating royalty payments, enriching metadata, managing releases, and processing royalties.
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