Vivitar gone bust

Vivitar's European arm has gone into administration, making its 26 staff in France and the UK redundant after its parent company in US sold the brand name. Vivitar's parent company, Syntax Brillian, entered Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection in July and sold the Vivitar brand name to Sakar, a consumer electronics manufacturer in August.

Under the sale agreement the name, along with intellectual property and goodwill was sold, leaving Vivitar France S.A. unable to continue to trade under the Vivitar name. The previously profitable company has ceased trading, owing creditors £4 million. Syntax Brillian acquired Vivitar, a company with a history of high quality lens design but more recently known for inexpensive compact cameras, in 1996.

“The American parent had sold-on the Vivitar brand, so the European arm no longer had means to trade" said Eddie Kerr, corporate recovery partner at PKF, Vivitar France S.A's appointed administrator.