Earlier today, Superior Industries Production Germany GmbH (SPG), a wholly owned subsidiary of US-headquartered aluminium wheel supplier Superior Industries International, Inc., filed voluntary petitions for preliminary insolvency proceedings. Superior Industries calls this step a “strategic action” to “further enhance competitiveness.”
BTL – the business known as Birla Tyres prior to its demerger from Kesoram Industries in 2020 – is insolvent, and two companies are in the running to acquire the tyre maker. One is the Ruia Group, former owner of the Dunlop brand in India.
Dutch wholesaler Tyre Trading International B.V. (T.T.I.) was declared insolvent by the Court of Rotterdam (Rechtbank Rotterdam) on 21 June 2022. According to the country’s central insolvency register, the appointed trustee for the case is Mr M Hoogendoorn.
Recycled carbon black compnay Pyrolyx AG has cancelled the extraordinary general meeting it had scheduled for 15 January 2021, and has done so as the company has filed to open insolvency proceedings. The case (number 1507 IN 2125/20) was filed with the Munich District Court on 4 December 2020.
BBS’s provisional administrator, Thomas Oberle, as provisional insolvency administrator, has clarified that there are not “structural problems” at the firms two plants in Schiltach and Herbolzheim. And therefore, that was not the reason for the well-known wheel brand’s recent insolvency our German group publication Reifenpresse.de reported.
Wheel manufacturer BBS applied for bankruptcy protection at the district court in Rottweil, Germany on Monday 13 July 2020. It is the third time in the past 15 years BBS has done so. There were also bankruptcies in 2007 and 2011, our German group publication Neue ReifenZeitung (reifenpresse.de) reported.
A week ago, Bridgestone announced its acquisition of 42 Reiff Reifen und Autotechnik retail outlets in Germany from the now-bankrupt Fintyre Group business. The insolvency administrator handling the Fintyre case reports that buyers have also been found for two further Fintyre businesses, Duro Reifenservice GmbH and Reifen24 GmbH.
Some ten weeks ago, German tyre wholesaler RS Exclusiv Reifengroßhandel GmbH entered insolvency as part of the Fintyre Group’s operations in Germany. It now seems that the company’s days are numbered. The insolvency administrator’s office confirmed the sale of RS Exclusiv’s headquarters site north of Hamburg to our German partner magazine, Neue Reifenzeitung. The wholesaler has quarter of a year to pack its things and go. But the insolvency administrator also reports another, more cogent reason for winding up the business.
Insolvency proceedings begin for 7 Fintyre Group companies in Germany
According to Sebastian Brunner, spokesman for the provisional insolvency administrator handling the Fintyre Group case, a number of parties have already expressed interest in acquiring individual companies belonging to Fintyre’s insolvent German operations. These potential investors have already inspected the companies in question or will do so in the near future. “We hope to already have binding offers on the table in April and then be able to enter into negotiations,” said Brunner.
The insolvency administrator handling the case of 16 Fintyre Group companies in Germany reports further progress. Miguel Grosser from law and insolvency administration firm JAFFÉ states that 31 TyreXpert, Secura and Duro retail outlets are selling tyres again and providing a full range of customer services. Other centres, including those belonging to Reiff Reifen und Autotechnik, can operate on a “restricted” basis but not sell new products.
Hundreds of people employed by Fintyre Group subsidiaries in Germany didn’t receive their wages or salaries for January, and it looks like this unhappy situation occurred again a month later. Disgruntled employees have contacted our German affiliate to confirm the lightness of their bank accounts, but apparently, they’ll soon become weightier.
All employees of the Fintyre Group’s 16 subsidiary companies in Germany who didn’t receive their wages or salaries for January have now received insolvency benefits – which Fintyre will ultimately pay for, one way or another.
It’s still early days for Fintyre’s insolvency proceedings in Germany, but some progress has been made. The insolvency administrator appointed to the preliminary insolvency proceedings for 16 Fintyre Group companies reports the appointment of a committee of creditors. This committee will work with a “leading international transaction consultant” to find a new investor for Fintyre. At the same time, some of the Fintyre employees who weren’t paid salaries or wages for January have now received insolvency benefit payments.
All 16 companies in the German Fintyre Group have now applied to open insolvency proceedings. But what lies ahead for the 1300-plus employees awaiting wages and salaries, the affected companies’ creditors, and the companies themselves? Sebastian Brunner, spokesman for Miguel Grosser, the provisional insolvency administrator at law firm Jaffé, told our sister website in Germany, Reifenpresse.de, that approximately 200 Reifen Krieg employees will receive their outstanding January wages and salaries in the coming days. Business at the group’s wholesalers and retailers is largely at a standstill, though the office of the provisional insolvency administrator has some more positive news on this too.
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