On May 16, 2025, the reorganization plan of Xinjiang La Chapelle Fashion Co., Ltd. (‘La Chapelle’) was approved by the Shanghai Third Intermediate People's Court (‘Shanghai Third Intermediate Court’). JunHe acted as the administrator, and partner Li Chenghao led JunHe’s team and acted as the principal.
La Chapelle was established on March 14, 2001, and was formerly known as Shanghai La Chapelle Fashion Co., Ltd. On October 9, 2014, with approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, La Chapelle was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (La Chapelle, stock code 06116). On September 25, 2017, La Chapelle was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (La Chapelle, stock code 603157). Due to incorrect judgments regarding the external environment and internal factors such as strategic misalignment, rapid expansion and imbalanced cost structures, La Chapelle began to incur operating losses in 2018. The situation worsened in 2020 with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to multiple operational challenges. On May 24, 2022, due to negative net assets attributable to shareholders for two consecutive years (2020 and 2021), the company was officially delisted from the A-share market, and its A shares were transferred to the delisted company segment for trading. As the company entered bankruptcy proceedings and an administrator was appointed, trading of its domestic shares and H shares was suspended. On November 14, 2024, due to a suspension period exceeding 18 months, La Chapelle's H shares were delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
On February 2, 2023, the Shanghai Third Intermediate Court rendered a civil ruling ((2023) Hu 03 Po No. 64), accepting La Chapelle's bankruptcy and liquidation application. On September 12, 2023, the court ruled for La Chapelle's reorganization. On May 22, 2024, the Shanghai Third Intermediate Court issued a decision ((2023) Hu 03 Po No. 64-2), removing the original administrator and appointing JunHe’s Shanghai office as La Chapelle's administrator.
After being appointed by the court, JunHe completed various tasks as the administrator. These included completing the creditor’s claim filings and verifications, asset auditing and valuation, signing reorganization investment agreements, drafting the reorganization plan, handling the substantive merger and reorganization applications and reviews, organizing creditor meetings, applying for a review of the H-share delisting decision, and making prompt information disclosures in mainland China and Hong Kong. Despite the delisting of La Chapelle's H-shares and being recognized as a public company by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC) , La Chapelle obtained from the SFC a conditional whitewash waiver letter (now an unconditional waiver letter). This exempted investors from their obligation to make a general offer before the convening of the investor group meeting.
On April 1, 2025, La Chapelle's creditor meeting voted to approve the draft reorganization plan, with 100% affirmative votes in the employee creditor group and tax creditor group, and approximately 80% affirmative votes in the ordinary creditor group. On April 30, La Chapelle's investor group overwhelmingly approved the matters related to the investor’s interest adjustments in the draft reorganization plan, with the affirmative votes exceeding 99%.
JunHe demonstrated outstanding professional expertise and collaborative capabilities in this case, earning recognition from the court, creditors, La Chapelle, investors, and various stakeholders. The administrator will continue to promote the implementation of the reorganization plan and assist La Chapelle with its rebirth and revitalization in the women's fashion retail market.
Partner LI, Chenghao led the JunHe team and acted as the principal of the administrator. ZHU, Chong and counsel LIU, Xiaosen were responsible for the specific work. Partners WANG, Yi, LIU, Zhengdong, DONG, Ming, CHEN, Yuwei and XU, Haoyue (Beverly), and counsel WU, Ling provided great support in this project.