Restructuring of Pfleiderer AG successfully completed

Nov 28, 2012. /Lesprom Network/. The restructuring of Pfleiderer AG has been brought to a successful conclusion. After the insolvency plan took legal effect, the Local Court in Düsseldorf acted today to enter the capital measures approved by the creditors’ meeting on September 12, 2012, the reduction of equity capital of Pfleiderer AG (ISIN DE0006764749) to zero and the subsequent capital increase with the complete exclusion of subscription rights among former shareholders, into the Commercial Register of the Regional Court of Düsseldorf. As a result of this action, Atlantik S.A., Luxemburg, is now the new and sole shareholder. In light of the reduction in the company’s capital to zero, the shares held by former shareholders ceased to exist. Stock exchange trading will be discontinued, as the company said in the press release received by Lesprom Network. As part of the steps agreed upon in the insolvency plan, nearly €900 million in liabilities held by Pfleiderer AG will be forgone. Given the restored earnings power of the Pfleiderer Group, the approximately €310 million in financial liabilities on the company’s books will correspond to debt levels typically seen in the market. At the same time, the company will have adequate equity of about €165 million, representing a solid foundation for the company to finance itself on a sustainable, independent basis. In addition to the financial restructuring action, the company has carried out a sweeping reorganization of its business activities since the end of 2010. As part of this process, the money-losing businesses in the United States and Canada as well as operations in Europe and activities in Russia were sold. All sales were successfully completed within the allotted time period, a move that played a major role in the decision by the companies’ creditors to forgo the debts of the Pfleiderer Group on this scale. Following the restructuring, the Pfleiderer Group consists of the profitable Business Center Western Europe, particularly the production and sales companies active in Germany, and continues to hold a majority stake in Pfleiderer Grajewo S.A., which has a strong market position in Poland’s engineered-wood market. As part of the insolvency plan, the headquarters of Pfleiderer AG was relocated from Neumarkt/Upper Palatinate to Düsseldorf. Pfleiderer Holzwerkstoffe GmbH, under whose umbrella all activities in the German market are placed, will remain in Neumarkt. The driving forces behind the success of the reorganization and the Pfleiderer Group’s continued business operations were the contributions that all sides made to the restructuring effort. As a result, it was possible to prevent the assets of the operating business from becoming part of an insolvency proceeding and to carry out a professional reorganization of Pfleiderer AG as a holding company without negatively impacting the operating business. As a result, all 3,600 jobs were saved. Hans-Joachim Ziems, Executive Board member of Pfleiderer AG, said: “The registration of the capital measures has brought a successful conclusion to a nearly two-year, extremely complicated restructuring process. I am delighted that it was possible to turn Pfleiderer into a healthy and powerful company in the engineered-wood industry and save about 3,600 jobs. The execution of the insolvency process under self-administration according to the German Act to Facilitate Company Reorganization proved extremely helpful.” The formal conclusion of the insolvency process is expected in the coming few days.