(31 October 2014) Details about your subscriptions via Swets.
(28 October 2014) Swets foreign companies included in bankruptcy proceedings.
(9 October 2014) SAGE advises customers about payments.
(25 September 2014) In a posting to liblicense-1, Ann Shumelda Okerson says: Dear Readers, We appreciate the goodwill of all, especially the publishers who’ve forwarded numerous messages to liblicense-l, carrying the Swets news. At this point, we can’t forward all of them — they are important and valued, but at this time all appear to be providing the similar information: that libraries should not be placing 2015 orders through Swets, but choosing other options — whether direct order or via a different agency. Publishers are reaching out to library customers to assure them of best efforts to provide access during this difficult period. As soon as we receive additional “next steps” announcements, liblicense-l will of course pass them along.
Swets Information Services B.V. declared bankrupt [Press release from Swets]
(24 September 2014, Leiden) Following the suspension of payment for Swets & Zeitlinger Group B.V., granted by the court in Amsterdam on 19 September 2014, the Swets Management team, together with Mr J.L.M. Groenewegen (CMS), the appointed administrator, have been working tirelessly to investigate alternatives for the business. Unfortunately, concrete alternatives to sell the business as a whole have not materialised and due to these developments Swets Information Services B.V. filed for bankruptcy on 23 September 2014. The court of Amsterdam honoured this request and as per 23 September 2014 Swets Information Services B.V. is declared bankrupt.
Mr. J.L.M. Groenewegen has now been appointed as trustee and the court of Amsterdam has also granted a cooling off period (afkoelingsperiode) for a duration of two months. Swets Information Services B.V. has approximately 110 employees in the Netherlands. As a consequence of the bankruptcy the employment contracts with these employees will be terminated.
The bankruptcy of Swets Information Services B.V. does (for now) not affect its (foreign) subsidiaries as the bankruptcy is only related to Swets Information Services B.V. If and in which way the bankruptcy of Swets Information Services B.V. will affect its branches is currently under investigation by the trustee and the Management team at this moment.
In the coming days the trustee and the Management team will continue discussions with organisations and individuals who may be interested in purchasing parts of the business and will be making every effort to try to preserve employment, where possible. Alternative solutions for the subsidiaries, or branches, of Swets Information Services B.V. which could see them continue activities on a stand alone basis will also be investigated.
During these negotiations we kindly ask any suppliers, publishers and clients with urgent queries to contact CMS directly by email, from Friday afternoon onwards, at the following address: [email protected]. The original of this press release is here.
(24 September 2014) The news that Swets has filed for bankruptcy is being discussed on the Liblicense Discussion Group. Publishers, including SAGE and AMA/JAMA Network, have posted advisories to their subscribers about routing payments through other subscription agents or direct to the publisher. Liblicense is here.
(22 September 2014) A story on the German publishing industry web site boersenblatt.net (in German) reports that Netherlands-based Swets (Swets & Zeitlinger Group B.V.) is insolvent and has filed for bankruptcy writes Gary Price on InfoDocket. This posting is being updated with reactions and advice from publishers.
Swets says it has customers in 160 nations, offices in 23 countries, and employs over 570 people. The annual report adds that the company has over 8,000 customers worldwide representing approximately 800,000 subscriptions.
The company has also requested the court in Amsterdam to declare a suspension of payments of Swets & Zeitlinger Group BV and appoint an administrator.
This request was honoured by the court.
