The Breda court granted a cooling-off period to Audax, the parent company of Bruna and The Read Shop, to give it time to reach agreements with creditors and avert bankruptcy. Audax, which is based in Rijen and owns or franchises about 450 Bruna and Readshop stores, faces payment problems and a governance dispute involving its largest shareholders and some supervisory directors.

A single report said Audax owed suppliers more than €9 million and also had a tax debt dating from the coronavirus period. It said suppliers increasingly required immediate payment, creating difficulties in building stock ahead of the holiday season. Thousands of people work at the company and its affiliated stores.