Re-organisation of Jolla company

General
#1

Hello
As this thread Where to go after Sailfish? - #276 by robang74 has been closed, I am obliged to open a new one.
On reading this page, I understand that Jolla is undergoing restructuring (reorganisation). YTJ Tietopalvelu
We understand that this reorganisation procedure was initiated on 21 June 2023.

In France we have a procedure very similar to this Finnish procedure: the safeguard procedure. This is a procedure that is ‘opened’ by a commercial court judge only at the request of the company. In France, this safeguard procedure cannot exceed one year. At the end of this procedure, either an agreement is reached with the creditors and reorganisation is possible, or it is not possible, the company is placed in receivership (redressement) or, worse still, liquidation. Just to give you an idea of where we’re heading, I’d just like to know how long this reorganisation procedure can last under Finnish law: one year, as under french law? Or longer? Or less? I looked on this page but couldn’t find anything :frowning:
My question is purely legal and I hope that in this thread there will only be legal answers !

www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) help me to write this post

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#2

A corporate re-organisation usually lasts for between 5 and 10 years in total.

Screenshot from 2023-10-21 16-30-21
Screenshot from 2023-10-21 16-30-21913×663 167 KB

For what I have read, it can end into a bankruptcy as soon as the re-organizing corporation cannot fulfill its obligations accepted in the re-organisation plan. Therefore, any time since now up to Q2 2033.

I am not a legal expert of Finish company law. Mine, it is a reasonable answer based on what I have read and its common meaning in English.

What’s about SFOS developers?

This is the other meaningful question.

Considering the welfare in Finland [1], it is reasonable that they will receive a unemployment coverage that will let them to live in fair decent conditions even for their standards.

Those work from remote and are resident in other countries might face not such good conditions but they will receive some kind of coverage (basic unemployment allowance) and a new employment opportunity (less probably but it depends how good is their job centers).

One Finnish friend of mine, from Finland, ended-up in such a program and he traveled around the Europe, Italy included, for quite a long time until he married a Swiss girl and moved living in Switzerland and he was “promoted” to the role of housewife when she delivered their first baby.

This let me think that anyone employed by Jolla Oy will have a good chance to a new start.

[1] Benefits for unemployed and jobseekers in Finland

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#3

Yes, it’s more or less the same in France: once an agreement has been reached with the creditors, a plan is drawn up to pay off the debts, and this plan cannot last more than 10 years. Broadly speaking, it’s the same in France.

Here, I’m talking about the interim period between the date on which the reorganisation procedure is initiated and the deadline by which a recovery plan must be proposed (and validated!).

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#4

Good question. Thanks.

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#5

Then Jolla has one year to reorganize itself or it will be liquidated?

#6

Why doesn’t someone bring this topic (Jolla’s situation & how to help, if help is possible still) up to the next community meeting? Last answer to this question in the same meeting was “no comment”, but the question was not presented as a topic before.

#7

That’s not really my question. My question is how long a Finnish company (Jolla or any other company) is entitled under Finnish law to submit a recovery plan as part of a “re-organisation” procedure. In french law it is maximum 1 year. But in Finnish law ?

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#8

I think you still wouldn’t get an answer. Its unlikely that we’ll hear anything until a public announcement is made, and they won’t do that until their future is certain - one way or the other.

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#9

So why don’t you just consult the “Finnish Company Law” your self? I’m pretty sure there is few lawyers among us, that can give you an accurate answer. So please DuckDuckGo it.
Here’s a small start.

Finnish law makes a distinction between private limited companies (Oy) and public limited companies (Oyj). The private limited company is the basic form, its economic function being the equivalent of the GmbH in Germany and the Ltd in England.

#10

@mips_tux question is not something that necessarily Jolla should answer. Anyone that is a legal expert of the companies law in Finland can answer the question. That answer is going to apply also to Jolla Oy, no matter what they answer or not.

Therefore, the above question is seeking an answer but not necessarily by Jolla Oy and that answer by the Finnish law will be enough for us to know the next deadline.

Instead, the answer of @eson is not enough because it is based on a supposition that Finnish limited liability private companies undergo under the same law terms of the Germany or England companies

I can grant you that Germany law and English law about that kind of companies is pretty different, in fact. Occasionally, some similitude apply and some time terms can be similar but because every country considers the solar year as a fiscal year.

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#11

Jolla has almost certainly cut the hours of nearly all staff as they did last time. Whether it’s to the same degree, I don’t know. That time, in 2015, they also killed their hardware division and set a new aim to sell a whole secure mobile solution to corporations, particularly those who don’t trust the US.
The latter was drawing a not-too-fine line yet now they don’t want any Russian state ownership.

Rostelcom, knowing Aurora OS would be becoming the OS of choice for the whole Govt, probably insisted on selling their shares at a premium and so Jolla wouldn’t have been able to find a new buyer. I still don’t know if the process can force Rostelcom to sell at a fair price – and of course, disclosure of extending Aurora into the wider Govt may change that price.
I have little doubt that Jolla’s deal with Rostelcom saved them.

As I understand it, Jolla’s economic situation, prospects and understanding of the latter are far better now than in 2015. They say they’re making a profit for the first time ever (on what?). Their immediate debt was a mere €100 which is what makes me think Jolla chose this situation. How was it in their interests to do so?

It’s strange we still know so little about what’s going on and how serious the situation is.

By the way, reading native law is hard, never mind oddly-structured foreign law in another language.

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#12

In France, there is no distinction and it is the same law for small or big companies and whatever their legal forms for this kind of procedure !

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#13

I’m not an expert in this field of the Finnish Law, but maybe I can help some people to understand the Finnish restructuring.

According to the law, there are no time limits regarding the court, but the responsible district court will give deadlines to the debtor and the creditors along the way - although in many cases these deadlines have been surpassed for various reasons. However, after the application is sent to the court, it will usually take 6-12 months (median being roughly 11 months) before the reconstructuring proposal is confirmed or refused. In theory, the reconstructuring plan can be confirmed in the court during the same day the application is sent.

  1. An application for restructuring is sent to the court by the company, the creditors or both and in some cases by an external expert.
  2. The court will make a decision to start or not to start the restructuring - they will mainly consider the debtor’s ability to pay the debts. I don’t know how long this can take, but at least civil courts in Finland are heavily over-worked.
  3. If the application for reconstructuring is accepted, an external investigator ordered by the court will document all assets and debts of the company. They will draw up a proposal regarding the restructuring. Under normal circumstances, the investigator has four (4) months to come up with a proposal.
  4. If the proposal is accepted by all parties, the district court will confirm the reconstructuring and the external investigator will monitor, that the company operates as was agreed.
  5. The reconstructuring will last up to 10 years, in rare cases even beyond that.

OT:

This is true. Most workers are members of an unemployment fund, which means they will receive an earnings-related allowance, that is roughly 50-70 % of the earnings (before taxes) of the last 6 months before unemployment. It can be even more, if the unemployed person has children.

EDIT: missing the word “day”
EDIT: added information about the work of the investigator (Finnish law, written in Finnish)

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#14

thanks @tuplasuhveli
You give an answer. I think that Finnish law is fairly similar to French law in this respect.

#16

Thanks for this link!

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#17

Here’s a recap to Jolla’s situation: Jolla has been placed to a corporate restructuring process during the summer and an administrator has been nominated by the court. The administrator is due to make a restructuring proposal during November, which will set the next steps for Jolla. Meanwhile, we do not publish components. Thank you for your understanding during this extraordinary time and we look forward to be able to update on this matter the soonest!

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#18

Just hope you’ll be fine for the future! Thank you for your communication Jolla :slight_smile:

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#19

Is there something we can do to help?

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#20

Legally, I don’t think there’s much we can do.
For the rest, I think the best we can do is to show that the community of users and developers is large, active and united. And above all, to stay in the ship and not leave it :wink:

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#21

It’s good to have this update. I’m sure we’re all hoping for the best and rooting for a successful outcome. I wish everyone at Jolla the best.

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