Chief restructuring officer (CRO) Marcus Katholing and the PLUTA team have reached an investor solution for the entire castings division of C.F. Maier. From 1 October 2021, the business operations of C.F. Maier Giesserei Scheeff GmbH & Co KG and C.F. Maier Metallbearbeitung GmbH & Co KG, both from Nersingen/Straß (68 employees), as well as C.F. Maier Leichtgusswerk GmbH & Co KG from Königsbronn (38 employees) will be transferred to the sphere of influence of the investor Lothar Thoni. All 106 employees will be taken over by the investor. The purchase agreements have already been signed. The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
Managing Director Marcus Katholing of PLUTA Management GmbH explains: "The entire staff has shown great commitment and worked excellently over the past eight months. This cannot be taken for granted, as the general conditions were not easy in view of the self-administration and the departure of the plant managers and the managing director. We have not lost a single customer and have been successful together. For this, I would like to thank all employees and also all customers for their professional cooperation. The effort has paid off, as we are able to maintain all jobs at both locations and customers will continue to be reliably supplied in the future." In addition to Marcus Katholing, the PLUTA restructuring team includes Stefan Warmuth and Stefan Endraß, as well as Dr Maximilian Pluta, who is responsible for restructuring and reorganisation.
Restructuring measures implemented according to plan
In the past months, the PLUTA team implemented important restructuring measures under aggravating Corona conditions. The business operations of the three companies continued without restrictions. The measures already initiated by the company were consistently implemented: Processes were optimised, internal structures improved and make-or-buy analyses carried out. These measures are reflected positively in the figures. The order situation for the coming months is very good.
The restructuring experts emphasise the special performance of all involved in the past weeks against the background of the Corona crisis, the challenges in the casting industry and the difficult M&A market. The continuation of operations and the now successful investor solution are therefore a remarkable success.
Investor Lothar Thoni says: "We are pleased to integrate these traditional companies into our group. We specialise in the production of aluminium castings with a very high vertical range of manufacture. The casting division of C.F. Maier is interesting for us because it optimally complements our range of services and in future we will have a location in Germany that we want to further strengthen in the future." The C.F. Maier casting division produces a wide range of different products on modern machinery and equipment.
Excellent cooperation with all parties involved
From the beginning, the aim of the restructuring was to place the significantly smaller castings division with over 100 employees from the C.F. Maier Group on its own feet, in order to enable a restructuring plan or a sale. This has been achieved with the sale to the investor. The M&A experts of SGP Schneider Geiwitz Wieland Corporate Finance supported the investor process. On the buyer side, Lothar Thoni was accompanied by the law firm Wieschemann & Kollegen from Kaiserslautern.
In December 2020, applications for self-administration proceedings for the three companies of the Casting Division were filed with the Aalen Local Court. The administrator is Prof. Dr. Martin Hörmann from anchor Rechtsanwälte, who is accompanying the proceedings of the three companies on behalf of the creditors. The lawyer says: "The self-administration worked very well. The PLUTA team has restructured the division. The cooperation with all parties involved was excellent. I am pleased that the castings division has prospects for the future."
Markus Maier, Managing Partner of the C.F. Maier group of companies, explains: "Our decision to restructure in self-administration has led to success. I would like to thank everyone involved, especially the PLUTA team. We are handing over a reorganised casting division to a new owner. We have made a considerable financial contribution to the preservation of jobs and the continuation of the business. I am particularly pleased that we can thus preserve all the jobs."
The plastics group of C.F. Maier was not affected by the application. There have been no changes in this division, which accounts for about 90 per cent of the total turnover. With a good order backlog, this division is working to capacity, is profitable and has successfully gone through the Corona pandemic.
