2024-02-25 08:05:49
The Appenzell brewer Locher is demanding a reduction in Chopfab Boxer’s debt before taking a stake in its capital. The Winterthur (ZH) company, which notably owns Boxer beers brewed in Yverdon-les-Bains (VD), is experiencing financial difficulties.
“For us it is not a question of having a participation at an advantageous price,” declared the director of Locher, Aurèle Meyer, in an interview broadcast on Sunday by SonntagsZeitung. “There are enough charges from the past that will cost a lot of money, but the company must become viable again. If the debt reduction is successful, we are ready to reorganize the company with other shareholders.”
The “scale of financial problems” of Chopfab Boxer is a surprise, adds Aurèle Meyer. The situation remains difficult, he continues. “Important negotiations, the outcome of which is uncertain, are underway. We will know more at the end of next week.”
No merger planned
According to Aurèle Meyer, Locher, which brews Quöllfrisch beer in particular, does not want to merge with Chopfab Boxer. A possible participation in the Winterthur company is also not a sign of a desire for expansion by the Appenzell group, he adds. “We can very well continue to live profitably without expansion. But this request was made to us, so we are looking into it.”
Resulting from the marriage in 2018 between the Zurich brewer Doppelleu Brauwerkstatt and its Yverdon counterpart Boxer, the company Chopfab Boxer has been in recovery since December, according to information from Handelszeitung.
The brewer, which employs 55 people on its production site in Winterthur and 35 in Yverdon-les-Bains, is drowning in debt, consisting mainly of loans from shareholders, banks and debts to suppliers and public institutions. He cites the rise in interest rates and the rise in the price of raw materials to justify the current difficulties.
ats/lan
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