Future of Zuse Hüller Hille secured

MOSBACH, BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG, GERMANY (2 October 2019) – Following the successful completion of regulatory-approval procedures in Germany and China, yesterday marked the completion of Visionmax Germany GmbH’s takeover of Zuse Hüller Hille Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH’s business operations with effect from 1 June 2019. As a result, the main assets of Zuse Hüller Hille (ZHH), based in the town of Mosbach, will be transferred to Visionmax, a subsidiary of Visionmax Asset Management Co., Ltd., which was founded in 2011. The Chinese holding company has been financing the continuation of ZHH’s operations since June 2019.

As a brand with a strong engineering tradition, ZHH manufactures high-quality horizontal 4- and 5-axis machining centres, as well as the modular NBV 700 vertical machining centre. ZHH creates customised production concepts for products ranging from single machines and flexible cells and production systems through to technology solutions for high-end applications in the automotive and aerospace industries. Around 170 employees work at its Diedesheim plant.

In the first quarter of 2019, the company ran into difficulties as the previous shareholders were no longer able to secure the necessary working capital to fund the growth plan the firm had embarked on and ramp up mass production. After growth financing was cut off, orders could no longer be fulfilled and salaries and suppliers could no longer be paid. In light of the difficult situation it found itself in, the company applied for insolvency proceedings to be opened on 23 April 2019. Marcus Winkler from law firm BBL Bernsau Brockdorff was appointed as the preliminary insolvency administrator. In close collaboration with the second tier of management, the works council and the IG Metall union, Winkler moved quickly to implement a comprehensive stabilisation action plan at the company.

In tandem with these efforts, the experienced insolvency administrator launched an M&A process at an early stage to find an investor as soon as possible – a task it entrusted to boutique corporate-finance consulting firm FalkenSteg. The FalkenSteg team, led by Johannes von Neumann-Cosel, was able to match Visionmax with an investor just six weeks after it had submitted its insolvency application.

About BBL Bernsau Brockdorff
BBL has been one of Germany’s leading law firms for many years with a sole focus on critical situations – restructuring, business recovery and insolvency. Employing about 200 staff and more than 50 practising lawyers, BBL has outposts in more than 30 locations around the country and maintains an office in London. BBL is known for supporting restructuring projects aimed at crisis prevention, advising on situations threatening the existence of companies and providing guidance with insolvency proceedings and insolvency under debtor-in-possession management. Thanks to its long list of cross-border projects, the firm has also built up an extensive international network.

About FalkenSteg
FalkenSteg is a partner-run restructuring, corporate-finance and real-estate consulting firm with offices in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich. The company’s Corporate Finance and Recovery Advisory teams offer clients a comprehensive range of widely used corporate-finance products and business recovery techniques.