According to a press release on Saturday, the creditors and the Austrian major shareholder Michael Tojner agreed on a restructuring plan that provides for a debt cut from 485 million to 200 million euros. At the same time, Tojner, together with the sports car manufacturer Porsche, is injecting fresh capital of 60 million euros.
The remaining shareholders will therefore get nothing, as the company’s share capital will be set to zero, according to a press release from the German company. The new owners of Varta will be the previous majority shareholder Tojner and the Porsche Group, whose possible entry had already been rumored. The creditors will also provide a further 60 million euros in the form of senior secured loans.
Plete off the table for now
“Despite the current economic challenges, the company offers great potential to make Europe’s battery cell research and production more independent of Asian suppliers. Together with Porsche, we want to make a contribution to this. With today’s agreement, we have taken a first important step that will secure the stability of VARTA AG and pave the way for a new start,” Tojner commented on the capital injection.
A bankruptcy of Varta is therefore off the table for the time being, as a company spokesperson said in response to an APA inquiry. However, the so-called pre-insolvency procedure remains in place. Varta CEO Michael Ostermann announced a radical restructuring in accordance with the German StaRUG restructuring law in July. After costly bad investments, the company was no longer able to service its mountain of debt.
