News from Jerez 27.7.12

The judicial net is tightening round  the Ruiz Mateos family.

Following preventive measures adopted by the Granada Mercantile Court to prohibit any attempt by the family to transfer the brands of Dhul (a desserts producer) to third companies via companies they own, the Trades Unions are seeking an injunction on the Garvey brands to avoid their possible transfer. "Without the brands there is nothing". The Ruiz Mateos family still owns the registered title of the Garvey brands, the exclusive rights of use of which are assigned to Complejo Bodeguero Bellavista (the Garvey bodega) until 2015. The bodega's administrators consider the potential loss of the brand names is an added risk to the running of the business, as do the firm's actual owners, Back in Business, in their viability plan.

It seems that the Ruiz Mateos family have tried to register the Dhul brand names to spurious third companies they also own under a spurious holding company in Belize so that they can be kept out of  insolvency or expropriation proceedings. The unions are worried the same could happen at Garvey after 2015.