The restructuring concept of the badly hit car supplier Leoni stands. The consortium banks, Stefan Pierer (66) as a strategic investor and the company have signed the corresponding agreement, the company announced on Monday. The federal government and the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria and Lower Saxony, which had guaranteed a €330 million Corona aid loan in 2020, had promised their approval. In addition, a significant number of the promissory note creditors with a volume of EUR 168 million have declared that they will join the concept. This secured the necessary majority for the renovation.
In addition, be after Change from Aldo Kamper (52) to AMS Osram found a new boss Klaus Rinnerberger (59) was already considered a candidate in February
– and should now run the company after merger control clearance, it said. During the transition period, the restructuring expert Hans-Joachim Ziems will take over his duties. It was initially unclear how long this test would take. Rinnerberger is a member of the Board of Directors of the Pierer Group and is currently the head of the Supervisory Board at Leoni.
The share increases – the game ball of the gambler
The Leoni share, which had mutated into a penny stick and a game ball for gamblers in the past few days, rose sharply again on Monday. However, the change of boss and the approval of the restructuring concept cannot be a reason for the price increase: Leoni’s restructuring concept also provides for a capital cut in addition to Pierer’s entry, in which the shareholders should get nothing. Then the shares expire practically worthless, their value being set to zero. Leoni is then to be taken off the stock exchange. According to Leoni, the step is also possible without a majority vote at a general meeting if a large part of the other creditors agree. According to Leoni, a sufficient majority is already guaranteed to bring about a restructuring decision in accordance with the Company Stabilization and Restructuring Act.
Pierer owns the motorcycle brands KTM and Husqvarna, among others. He provides Leoni with 150 million euros. Banks and promissory note creditors are to participate in Leoni’s later profits and thus have the chance to get back at least part of the 708 million euros that they are forgoing for the time being. With the concept, the financing of the group with more than 90,000 employees is secured until 2026.
With an expansion course, Leoni had accumulated billions in debt over the years, which threatened to overwhelm the group. The previous attempt to rehabilitate Leoni failed at the end of last year because the Thai buyer for the cable division, Stark Corp, jumped out at the last minute. Leoni was missing more than 400 million euros, which should actually go to the banks.
That is why Leoni uses the possibilities of the pre-insolvency restructuring procedure, which has also been in place for two years Germany gives. These so-called StaRUG procedures are intended to prevent an operationally viable company from going bankrupt. In this way, the resistance of individual creditors can be overturned.