Turnaround Restructuring
Billionaire Merckles Said to Seek Restructuring Loan From Banks
Auteur : Aaron Kirchfeld
Du : 17/05/2009
May 8 (Bloomberg) -- Ludwig Merckle, the sole heir of deceased German billionaire Adolf Merckle, will meet with creditors next week, seeking about 400 million euros ($540 million) in loans to buy time to arrange asset sales and repay his family’s debt, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Banks led by Commerzbank AG, Deutsche Bank AG, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg will gather in Frankfurt on May 11 to discuss new financing for Merckle’s investment unit, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity. A restructuring plan from KPMG International commissioned by the family will be presented, the people said.
Merckle needs the funds before he can move forward with the sale of holdings including generic-drug maker Ratiopharm GmbH, drug wholesaler Phoenix Pharmahandel AG and HeidelbergCement AG. His father committed suicide in January as HeidelbergCement’s plunging stock price and wrong-way bets on Volkswagen AG left the family unable to repay as much as 5 billion euros in debt.
The lenders agreed in April to extend bridge financing until the end of May after an original standstill expired on March 31. The funds sought at next week’s meeting would replace the bridge loans and may run until 2010, the people said.
Trustees
Spokespeople at VEM, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland Group declined to comment. Landesbank Baden- Wuerttemberg couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
VEM holds a stake in HeidelbergCement and owns Ulm-based Ratiopharm.
The Merckles in March named Hans-Joachim Ziems as chief restructuring officer to prepare for the sale of the cement and pharmaceutical assets. The family and its creditors in February appointed Klaus Hubert Goerg and Martin Stockhausen of Goerg Partnership of Lawyers and Harald Wiedmann of Gleiss Lutz as trustees.
HeidelbergCement, Germany’s biggest cement maker, is close to obtaining a 600 million-euro two-month bridge loan, the first stage of its attempt to extend 9 billion euros of debt, a person involved in the negotiations said earlier this week.
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Banks led by Commerzbank AG, Deutsche Bank AG, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg will gather in Frankfurt on May 11 to discuss new financing for Merckle’s investment unit, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity. A restructuring plan from KPMG International commissioned by the family will be presented, the people said.
Merckle needs the funds before he can move forward with the sale of holdings including generic-drug maker Ratiopharm GmbH, drug wholesaler Phoenix Pharmahandel AG and HeidelbergCement AG. His father committed suicide in January as HeidelbergCement’s plunging stock price and wrong-way bets on Volkswagen AG left the family unable to repay as much as 5 billion euros in debt.
The lenders agreed in April to extend bridge financing until the end of May after an original standstill expired on March 31. The funds sought at next week’s meeting would replace the bridge loans and may run until 2010, the people said.
Trustees
Spokespeople at VEM, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland Group declined to comment. Landesbank Baden- Wuerttemberg couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
VEM holds a stake in HeidelbergCement and owns Ulm-based Ratiopharm.
The Merckles in March named Hans-Joachim Ziems as chief restructuring officer to prepare for the sale of the cement and pharmaceutical assets. The family and its creditors in February appointed Klaus Hubert Goerg and Martin Stockhausen of Goerg Partnership of Lawyers and Harald Wiedmann of Gleiss Lutz as trustees.
HeidelbergCement, Germany’s biggest cement maker, is close to obtaining a 600 million-euro two-month bridge loan, the first stage of its attempt to extend 9 billion euros of debt, a person involved in the negotiations said earlier this week.
Related Articles
[28/05/2009] PEI Asia, July/August 2009, Mapping the turnaround market
[14/03/2007] March 28-31 Dallas TMA Conference Updates Corporate Renewal Professionals on Best Practices
[01/03/2006] KPMG adds turnaround executives to its restructuring practice
[01/02/2006] Chief Restructuring Officers: The Lender’s Secret Weapon
[01/11/2005] Northern California Turnaround Pioneer Receives ACTP Lifetime Achievement Award
[01/11/2005] Tom Ridge and Cokie Roberts Speak at Turnaround Management Association's Chicago Convention, Oct. 20-21
[01/11/2005] Turnaround Professionals to Take on Gulf Coast Business Renewal Project