The De Leeuw family, owners of Audax, the loss-making parent company of retail chains Bruna and ReadShop in The Netherlands, has sold the company to an investor. The name of the new owner is not yet known.
Heavy debt burden
The sale is announced in Audax’s recently published annual report, as discovered by the FD newspaper, but the identity of the new owner can only be disclosed after the transfer of shares has taken place. It seems clear, however, that the sale has averted the company’s demise. Audax was burdened by heavy coronavirus-related debts but was able to reach an agreement with the tax authorities and the UWV.
The company has been operating at a loss since 2020. In 2024, that loss amounted to €11 million on a turnover of €196 million, but the goal for this year is to break even. In addition to being a publisher, Audax is also a magazine distributor and supplies more than 400 of its own and franchise stores and more than 4,000 other retailers, including Bruna, ReadShop, Schiphol, train stations, and the Bijenkorf bookstores.
