The case in summary Viper’s handball club, where national team goalkeeper Silje Solberg-Østhassel plays, avoids bankruptcy. The club needed NOK 25 million in three days to avoid bankruptcy, but a group of shareholders will now take over the operation. Vipers Kristiansand has been organized as a dual model with two boards, but this is no longer the case. Våg IK takes over the market rights. The joint-stock company Vipers Tophpåndball AS, which owns the marketing rights in the club, filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday morning. Vipers Tophåndball AS has approximately NOK 9 million in debt, mainly to Våg IK. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – It has been a difficult few days, but now I am very relieved that things have resolved, says national team goalkeeper and Vipers player Silje Solberg-Østhassel. She joined Vipers from the Hungarian club Györ in the summer and then signed a contract until 2027. The whole family moved to Kristiansand. Last week, the handball club announced that they needed NOK 25 million in three days to avoid bankruptcy. The future of Solberg-Østhassel and the 18 other Vipers players was thus at stake. On Monday, the counter-notification came that the club is still not filing for bankruptcy. – We have had some special days with two very different messages in a short time. Now we hope things are in order, says Solberg-Østhassel. – Do you believe in what is outlined? – Yes, we just have to. We have received good information throughout and trust that what is happening is good enough to continue, she says. Vipers goalkeeper Silje Solberg-Østhassel with her daughter. Today she attended a players’ meeting with the chairman. Photo: Kjetil Samuelsen / news Supporting the club with money It is thanks to 12-13 different people and companies that the continued operation of Vipers is ensured. – Some are known, and some will do this anonymously, says investor Morten Jørgensen to news. He says it is not an organized group, but several independent people and companies. Everyone has a common desire to support the club. – This has led to people across the board talking to each other to secure the financial basis for operations. Then we are primarily talking about the short term. Beyond this, these people have no demands on the club, and we look forward to the election of a new board. Jørgensen has been central to Vipers for several years, until he disappeared about a year ago. Photo: Sander Heggheim / news Had a meeting with the players On Tuesday morning, Vipers chairman Peter Gitmark had a meeting with the players at the club. Here they talked about the events of the last few days and what will happen next. – It is important that they know how the club will be managed in the future and how the club is saved. These are players who bleed for the kit and who are happy for both the fans and the club, says Gitmark. He specifies that the most important task of the new board will be to work with the income side. During 2025, the club must deliver positive equity. Vipers today called for an extraordinary general meeting next Monday, October 28. Chairman of Vipers Peter Gitmark has had enough to do in the last week. He says the most important thing now is to deliver positive equity during 2025. Photo: Kjetil Samuelsen / news Våg IK takes over the market rights Vipers Kristiansand has until today been organized as a so-called dual model with two boards. The dual model, where Vipers are organized into two companies, ceases. Våg IK now takes over the market rights in Vipers Kristiansand. The joint-stock company Vipers Tophpåndball AS, which owns the marketing rights in the club, filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday morning. Chairman of Vipers Topphandball Anders Iglebekk then made the trip to Agder district court. Chairman of Vipers Top Handball Anders Iglebekk today traveled to Agder district court to request a tender. Photo: Kjetil Samuelsen / news – It is boring to call for tenders, but the most important thing is that the club survives. It’s nice that someone comes in and takes it further so that we keep Vipers in Kristiansand and the region, says Iglebekk. Timeline Vipers: Timeline of the handball club Vipers Kristiansand’s most important points in the sporting venture and financial problems. * 2017: Vipers secured their first NM gold when they beat Stabæk 30-17 in the final. * 2017/18 season: Vipers took their first league title with a one-point margin down to Larvik, who had won the series in the previous 17 seasons. * 2020/21 season: Vipers lifted the Champions League trophy for the first time after a 34-28 win over French side Brest in the final. * 2022/23 season: Vipers claimed their third straight Champions League title when they beat Ferencvaros 28-24 in the final. * 28 March 2023: Vipers had to cut the number of players after a million deficit. * 15 January 2024: The players called businesses to raise money to save the club. * 16 January 2024: Vipers stated that they had to raise around NOK six million to save the club. * January 22, 2024: Vipers laid off 20 percent of management to save money. * 5 February 2024: Katrine Lunde and the rest of the star gallery accepted a cut in their own salary to help the club. * February 16, 2024: Vipers put the last pieces in place that enabled the club to avoid bankruptcy. * 27 February 2024: The Cultiva foundation supported Vipers with NOK five million for talent investment. * 8 July 2024: Vipers had to sell Anna Vjakhireva to Brest for NOK 1.9 million. According to Fædrelandsvennen, Vipers saved around NOK four million on the sale of Vjakhireva. * July 15, 2024: Vipers again ran into financial problems and stated that they needed 3.5 million grains by the end of the year. * August 2024: Chairman Peter Gitmark stated that the club had to start a new rescue operation, where they needed five million kroner to ensure continued operations. * 31 August 2024: Vipers suffered their first loss in 125 games against Norwegian teams when Storhamar were too strong with 29-28. * 15 October 2024: Chairman Gitmark stated that the club needs NOK 25 million by Friday to avoid the club going bankrupt. * 16 October 2024: Gitmark announces that the club is in talks with six groupings, three Norwegian and three international. * 17 October 2024: The Vipers chairman says that they have said no to a possible investor from the Middle East, while they also turned down one of the Norwegian players. * 20 October 2024: Vipers declares bankruptcy after the majority of the board believes it is not prudent to continue operating. (NTB) Has 9 million in debt Vipers Tophåndball AS, which today requested a tender, has approximately NOK 9 million in debt. Trustee Kjell Rune Holvik tells news. – The main part of the debt is to Våg IK. And then there are about ten smaller creditors, says Holvik. Lawyer Kjell Rune Holvik has been appointed as trustee for Vipers Tophandball, which filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday. Photo: Schmidt lawyers He says that he will have a meeting with Vipers’ chairman Peter Gitmark on Wednesday. Then, among other things, the agreement between IK Våg and Vipers will become a topic. – Otherwise, there will be a number of practical tasks such as termination of lease agreements, for example to get an overview of whether there are any values in the estate, which may perhaps accrue to creditors, says Holvik. He expects that the estate will be settled by the first probate meeting in court, which is set for 6 December. Published 22.10.2024, at 16.51
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