Inapa was a leader in the sector
Around 200 workers with an uncertain future as insolvency is confirmed as the paper distributor’s next step.
Insolvency is officially Inapa’s next step. After months of negotiation attempts to make the company viable, judicial administrator Bruno Costa Pereira announced the end of the negotiation period, recognizing the impossibility of revitalizing the company — a decision that leaves approximately 200 workers with an uncertain future.
The paper distributor, leader in the sector in Portugal, was already facing difficulties, worsened by financing problems at its German subsidiary and the Government’s refusal to grant financial support of . In July, the paper distributor announced that it would file for insolvency due to a “short-term cash shortage” of its German subsidiary Inapa Deutschland GmbH in this amount, for which no solution was found.
The outcome is still marked by a exchange of accusations between former directors of Inapa and the former president of Parpública, the entity that owned 45% of the distributor.
During a hearing this Tuesday at the Budget and Finance Committee, Frederico Lupi, former CEO of Inapa, criticized Parpública’s lack of action in the face of the company’s difficulties, claiming that there was close communication with the state entity, but that it did not took concrete measures to avoid collapse.
“Step bigger than your leg”
In response to Lupi, former president of Parpública José Realinho de Matos said in parliament that Inapa’s problem is “more structural than cyclical”, and that the paper distributor “took a step bigger than his leg”.
“Since 2020, Inapa has been requesting public support aimed at shareholder Parpública”, he began by highlighting the manager during the hearing requested by Chega.
The former head of the state holdings manager left for the Government in August 2024 with the rest of the administration. The departure was justified by the existence of a more reactive than preventive stance by the administration, as well as the lack of provision of timely information to the ministry, according to .
Now, he recalled the complicated financial situation that the company had already been reporting and the drops of around 20% market in recent years. In this sense, he considers that the “company took a bigger step forward”, namely in expanding in Germany.
“The report [de contas] of Inapa’s 2023 financial year has 26 pages on risks. The company was, in fact, in a situation of debt and varied risks”, pointed out José Realinho de Matos.
During the hearing, the person responsible also revealed that the sale of Parpública’s stake in Inapa “came to be considered nationally and we spoke with some companies in the paper sector”.
Losses exceeding 8 million euros
In the report, released last year to the Securities Market Commission (CMVM), Parpública reported an impairment at Inapa greater than 8.7 million euros.
According to the entity, “the share price with reference to December 31, 2023 did not yet reflect the expectation of loss on the part of investors, substantiating the need to reinforce the impairment related to the participation that Parpública holds in the share capital of Inapa IPG”.
Furthermore, in Parpública’s accounts it is reflected that the cost of acquiring the company’s shares, of almost 19 million euroshas a carrying amount of ‘zero’.
