Unabiz’s Sigfox IoT units in France have secured six months of court protection to restructure €5m debt, safeguard jobs, and ensure business continuity; global Sigfox operations remain unaffected.
In sum – what to know:
Protection – French court grants Unabiz six months to restructure €5m debt under receivership.
Guarantee – employee salaries are secure; French and global Sigfox operations continue unaffected.
Restructure – Unabiz aims to stabilize finances, preserve jobs, and pursue new funding.
Unabiz’s French IoT operating company, Unabiz SAS, formerly Sigfox SAS, has been granted a period of six months by a French court to restructure and reorganise as part of a court-managed receivership process. It follows the court’s decision last week to offer the same protection to its IoT network infrastructure business in the country, Unabiz Network SAS, formerly Sigfox France SAS. Unabiz has a debt burden of around €5 million in France.
In view of “financial difficulties” in France, the original home of the Sigfox-branded ultra-narrowband IoT technology, Singapore-based Unabiz filed twice with the Commercial Court of Toulouse for redressement judiciaire (RJ; ‘judicial reorganisation’) for its French business and network operations, on September 4 and September 9, respectively. The court has allowed both applications, on six-month terms. All France-based debts prior to the filing have been frozen.
Employee salaries have been guaranteed by a wage guarantee scheme, said Unabiz. The French legal mechanism under which it has gained its six-month respite prioritises job preservation and business restructuring. Unabiz said it is “business as usual” otherwise; all its “teams” remain in place, and new commitments with suppliers will be “honoured normally”, it said. Its Sigfox operations in Spain, Portugal, and elsewhere are unaffected, it said.
Its Singapore-based business, which specialises in IoT solution engineering, and also runs local Sigfox networks in the Asia Pacific region, is not impacted either, it said. It stated: “The procedure allows us to optimize costs, refocus our [French] business, and access new financing with a super-priority guarantee.” The RJ procedure is overseen by a court-appointed receiver and bankruptcy judge, and will see its ongoing plans and dealings scrutinised.
In a statement, Philippe Chiu, chief executive and co-founder at Unabiz, said: “We are taking a responsible step to stabilize our operations in France and create the necessary conditions for the restructuring of our business. Unlike Sigfox’s situation in 2022, which was deemed untenable, our objective is clear: to restructure and continue our operations… We now have breathing space to reorganize our debts and focus on business continuity.”
Unabiz bought Sigfox as part of a similar receivership process in the Commercial Court of Toulouse in 2022. At the time, Sigfox had accrued €153 million of debt, and the court wanted a buyer for the business. Much of its debt was wiped as part of the sale. Unabiz has since pumped €36 million into the business. Its €5 million debt today is mostly inherited from long-term rental fees to French tower firms, which have been called in and left unpaid.
Unabiz had asked to renegotiate with its creditors, whose stance had hardened, it seems – forcing Unabiz to file for protection. Unabiz managed to preserve 110 jobs out of a total of 174 through its 2022 acquisition of Sigfox. It told RCR Wireless that it expects to maintain the net headcount, even if certain roles change through the new process. There are Sigfox networks in 75 countries around the world, mostly operated by third-party operators.
Sigfox, now Unabiz, runs Sigfox networks in France, Spain, and Portugal. Since 2022, Unabiz has added six million Sigfox-based IoT connections, taking its total global base to 15 million (from nine million); it has also more-than doubled its global revenues from Sigfox sales and subscriptions in the period – from €12 million to €30 million. But it retains some outstanding debt, and wants a chance to fund its own innovation – to grow profits, attract new funds, and pay what it owes.
