The Schleswig-Holstein paper mill, Feldmuehle Uetersen GmbH filed for insolvency at the Pinneberg district court on January 24, 2018.
The court has appointed the Hamburg attorney-at-law and restructuringexpert Dr. Tjark Thies of Reimer Rechtsanwälte as the preliminary insolvency administrator. Founded in 1904, the company has approximately 420 employees and produces around 250,000 tonnes of paper a year at its paper mill just west of Hamburg.
Its products are used worldwide, mainly for the production of classic print products and in the packaging industry. “Business operations will continue unimpeded. This goes for production as well as purchasing, sales, marketing and logistics,” says Tjark Thies. Heiner Kayser, Managing Director of Feldmuehle Uetersen GmbH says: “Our customers can count on continuing to receive on-time deliveries,” and adds that suppliers can rest assured that they will receive their money when new orders are placed.
Employees will continue to be paid for their work: through the end of March 2018, their salaries will be covered by the Federal Employment Agency’s insolvency allowance. Tjark Thies and a team of experts from Reimer Rechtsanwälte are currently working on a stocktaking, together with the Munich-based restructuring consultancy Ruppert Fux Landmann GmbH (RFL) and Feldmuehle’s management. "Feldmuehle has first-class products, production facilities, and processes as well as a highly motivated workforce and holds a leading market position. So we are justified in seeing the current proceedings as an opportunity for the company," says Thies.
“Feldmuehle will continue the strategic reorganisation it has begun with the funds available to it under insolvency law. In particular, we will use the days and weeks ahead to review the extent to which the company could manage the economic rehabilitation just by itself,” says management consultant Ruppert. One conceivable alternative to this would be its acquisition by an investor, he adds.