Henniges Automotive falls into receivership

ERJ staff report (DS)

Grefrath, Germany -- Henniges Automotive Grefrath, its associated technical centre and two Czech subsidiaries have fallen into receivership. The administrator, Wolf-Rüdiger von der Fecht of Dusseldorf firm Metzeler-Von der Fecht, was not immediately available for comment. Henniges makes automotive profiles from EPDM, TPE and PVC.

The units affected are in Grefrath, Germany, Pribor and Ostrava in the Czech Republic. It is not clear whether the Henniges unit in Rehburg, Germany is also affected.

The units are owned by Chicago-based private-equity fund Wynnchurch Capital, which bought the former GDX Automotive in September 2007. The Henniges name is derived from GDX Automotive's most recognised brand founded in Germany by Ernst Henniges in 1951. Prior to that, the Grefrath unit was one of the flagship plants of UK-based company, Laird and then Draftex.

Altogether, around 2000 employees are affected, of which about 800 are in Grefrath. Local press reports say production is continuing and order books are healthy, but still some jobs are expected to be lost.

The announcement was made with little or no warning to employees, who thought they had a deal which runs until 2010.

No-one from either Wynnchurch or Henniges was immediately available for comment.

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Website of Henniges Automotive