SHW High Precision Casting Technology is a foundry specializing in the production of rollers, etc. for the paper, food and coating industries and wear castings for the crushing industry. The finished castings weigh between 100 kg and 120 t. The service portfolio also includes technical services such as roller calculation, design and construction, material selection and simulation.
In April 2013 as well as July 2017, the company had fallen into economic imbalance and had to file for bankruptcy. In June 2018, Rheinische Mittelstandsbeteiligungs GmbH took over the plant in Königsbronn. In the course of the summer, it became apparent that the new shareholder did not have sufficient funds to successfully run the business. Therefore, in October 2018, the foundry’s operations in Königsbronn were discontinued due to lack of funds. Management started working together with the previous owner to develop a rescue operation involving the main customers, which failed in early December 2018. The management subsequently filed for insolvency.
"In order to raise the purchase price for the company, the investor sold the machines to a leasing company, which he subsequently rented back from them for a high five-digit amount a month. The inventories were transferred to the previous owner to secure the outstanding purchase price share. Thus, at the beginning of the procedure, I found a company that had virtually no material assets," reports Martin Mucha of the Stuttgart law firm GRUB BRUGGER, who was appointed as the provisional insolvency administrator. "The permanent reorganization situation and the failed investor solutions led to lasting loss of customer confidence. Immediately after filing for bankruptcy, I had talks with major clients about a reorganization of the company's operations, but they finally failed on Wednesday of this week after key customers failed to get the financial support they needed."
As a result, the provisional insolvency administrator informed the workforce today that it was no longer possible to expect long-term support from the main customers and that it was likely to cease operations.
