Meteor goes into administration as Ruia deal falls through

ERJ staff report (DS)

Hildesheim, Germany - Meteor Gummiwerke K. H. Bädje GmbH & Co. KG based in Bockenem and its subsidiary Meteor Weigelt GmbH & Co. KG based in Bietigheim-Bissingen (near Stuttgart) have filed a petition for opening insolvency proceedings with the local court responsible in Hildesheim on account of impending insolvency and excessive indebtedness.

The court has appointed the Heidelberg solicitor Christopher Seagon as provisional insolvency administrator.

The foreign subsidiaries in the Czech Republic, Meteor Polymer Products s.r.o. and the USA Meteor US-Holding, LLC are not affected by the insolvency petition.

With approximately 2,300 employees worldwide Meteor generates sales of about 221 million euros. Around 1800 employees are employed at the headquarters in Bockenem.

Seagon is currently examining the business situation and deciding on the company's restructuring options. "It's still too early to say more in detail," according to Seagon. The initial aim is to maintain business operations in order to maintain continued delivery to customers without disruptions, especially in the automotive industry, and to create the conditions to secure locations and as many jobs as possible.

Steps to secure the pre-financing of the insolvency pay have already been taken, meaning the company will definitely continue to operate until the end of March.

In a previous announcement, the Indian company Ruia Brothers acquired Meteor as well as other automotive sealing companies. Local press reports in India said these deals have all fallen through. The Ruia-Meteor deal was officially closed on 7 October last year, but Ruia has, reportedly, failed to deliver on the agreed investments.

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Press release from Meteor

Press release from Administrators (German language)

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LiveMint (India / Germany)