As of 1 September 2019, Peiner Umformtechnik (PUT) has been sold to Düsseldorf-based Rheinort-Treuhand GmbH. The deal sees Rheinort-Treuhand acquire PUT, its sister company Peiner Services GmbH (PSG) and the company’s premises. Along with two businesses, their 193 employees will also be automatically transferred to the new owner. The parties have agreed to keep the purchase price confidential.

FalkenSteg Corporate Finance was tasked with implementing the investor recruitment process by itself.

“Rheinort-Treuhand bought out Peiner Umformtechnik for one key reason: its workforce. As we consulted with the works council during the insolvency proceedings, we came to understand that the customers are not only appreciative of PUT’s well-known high-strength fasteners. More than anything, it’s the reliable and dedicated employees working here who instil confidence in our customers. The staff are managing to overcome the insolvency thanks to our joint payroll efforts. As a result, they should be able to continue benefiting from the company’s activities in the future”, explains Dr Wolf von der Fecht, CEO of Rheinort-Treuhand GmbH.

After seventeen months of successful self-administration, PUT and PSG’s recovery was bolstered by an M&A process resulting in a sale. Throughout the process, the debtor-in-possession management was prepared and guided through insolvency law issues by Dr Alexander Höpfner, a restructuring expert at nationwide law firm BBL Bernsau Brockdorff & Partner, who was appointed as executive manager of PUT and PSG following the insolvency application. Höpfner carried out the debtor-in-possession management process and co-ran the company with Dr Thomas Dückers, who was also appointed company director in connection with the insolvency filing.

“We successfully kept the business trading during insolvency proceedings and have managed to transform Peiner Umformtechnik. This enabled us to safeguard the company’s ongoing survival and retain the strong specialist knowledge of the employees in our automotive, retail and wind business segments. We had to bring staffing numbers into line with current demand based on incoming orders, so the company will be employing 193 people from 1 October onwards. Rheinort-Treuhand will be working together with our highly motivated workforce to rebuild long-term confidence for Peiner Umformtechnik’s customers. We’ll continue to uphold the company’s organisational culture, ensuring a strong team spirit and successful business relationships as we move into the future,” says Dr Thomas Dückers, who will stay on at the helm.

“Since the self-administration regime began, we’ve managed to bring back PUT from the brink. During that process, we were always able to depend on the workforce. The successful recovery is ultimately the result of highly successful and goal-oriented collaboration between the debtor-in-possession management and administration personnel, the staff and the works council. The fact that everyone pulled together was an important element during the negotiations with Rheinort-Treuhand”, notes Dr Alexander Höpfner, PUT’s executive manager.

“As a team, we’ve managed to give Peiner Umformtechnik a viable future as a business once again. This company and its workforce have exemplified how much positive energy can be put to good use at a difficult time. PUT and its products have maintained and expanded their market and customer connections under debtor-in-possession management”, says business recovery expert Manuel Sack from Germany-wide law firm Brinkmann & Partner, who is supervising the management team as an administrator during insolvency proceedings.

“We’ve found a solution that proved acceptable to the staff, even if it wasn’t possible to save every job. Together with the IG Metall union and the company management, we’ve worked tirelessly for more than fifteen months to put Peiner Umformtechnik on a new track and secure the company’s future at the Peine site”, adds Uwe Simon, the chairman of the works council.

“The union was critical yet constructive as it at all times supported the insolvency administration, during which we pursued the following objectives: 1. Securing a long-term future for the production site in Peine. 2. Saving as many jobs as possible. 3. Safeguarding collective-bargaining coverage. It was ultimately possible to achieve these goals thanks to the great commitment of the workforce and IG Metall. IG Metall would like to thank Dr von der Fecht for taking the works council’s advice on board at our request. His supreme expertise, dedication and experience made him a valuable source of wisdom in the process of representing the interests of the staff, whom he has served well. The past several months at PUT show that co-determination and an active workforce are guarantors of the successful development of our businesses. Employee participation is a proven positive outside of times of crisis, too. IG Metall is convinced that PUT will develop into a successful company in the years to come, as we’ve been able to preserve the best features of PUT, its workforce, its practical expertise, its experience and its skills”, states Frank Raabe-Lindemann from IG Metall Salzgitter-Peine.

Trustee
Brinkmann & Partner
Manuel Sack

www.brinkmann-partner.de

Debtor-in-possession management
BBL Bernsau Brockdorff
Dr. Alexander Höpfner (Executive Manager)
Christoph von Billerbeck (Labour Law)
Dr. Mark Schüssler (Labour Law)
Dr. Simone Wernicke (Labour Law)
Hans Beyer (M&A)

www.bbl-law.de

M&A Advisory
Falkensteg GmbH
Jonas Eckhardt (Partner)