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German seat manufacturer Zim Flugsitz has initiated debtor insolvency proceedings, resulting in “a persistent and significant decline in sales since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.”
Munich-based restructuring specialist Pluta, who has been appointed to lead the process, says Zim intends to “reposition” it to keep him in business.
Zim will remain “fully operational” while his control groups will remain “in charge” and “bring out the restructuring under the supervision of the court and an insolvency controller,” Pluta says.
As a component of the existing provisional insolvency proceedings, which are expected to last two to three months, Pluta and Zim will extend a strategy in cooperation with creditors to rectify the activity of the main insolvency proceedings.
Pluta restructuring expert Jochen Gluck – appointed as Zim’s chief restructuring officer – describes the situation as “not easy”. But he says the company is “known for its high-quality products”, and that there is “an opportunity to put the business on a viable footing”.
He added: “We will review the procedure with all stakeholders and adjust them as the scenario evolves.”
Based in Markdorf, near Lake Constance, near the Swiss border, Zim employs more than two hundred workers between this site and a second newer production facility in Schwerin, in the north of what was once East Germany.
Staff salaries are “guaranteed” through German insolvency law. However, Pluta notes that “the two plants operate independently of the other and have their own design, management and production equipment”.
Zim designs and produces economical, economic and commercial seats for modernization, and has undergone a “strong sales expansion in recent years,” especially for high-end seats, Pluta said.
In March, Munich-based investment firm Aurelius Equity Opportunities had acquired a majority stake in Zim from its founding family, Angelika and Peter Zimmerman.
The couple would “continue to invest in the company and in the service of its administration,” Aurelius said at the time.
Angelika and Peter Zimmerman started the headquarters business in 2008. Previously, the company, which was founded through the couple in 1995, targeted aerospace structural engineering services, according to its website.
The plant in Schwerin – about an hour’s drive from Airbus’s Hamburg assembly line – opened in 2017.
Noting that “the entire aviation industry is experiencing an unprecedented crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic,” said Heiko Fricke, CEO of Zim: “The next few months will be very difficult for our company. However, I am sure we will succeed on this.” crisis under the coverage presented through the debtor’s proceedings in possession. »
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