starkpartners consulting successfully implemented the international investor search.
- Buyer is a global full-service provider in the field of electronics, development and manufacturing services
- Creditors vote unanimously for sale
- Business operations will be continued in full, location and all 40 jobs will be retained
Halle (Saale), 20th January 2022. Ultraschalltechnik Halle GmbH has been restructured. Kontron Electronics GmbH, a full-service provider in the field of electronics, development and manufacturing services from Frickenhausen in Baden-Württemberg, took over the Halle-based company on 1st December 2021 as part of a transferring reorganisation and integrated it into its own company.
Now the creditors’ meeting has also voted unanimously for the execution of the agreement. “We are very pleased about Kontron’s entry and the now formally completed investor process,” says lawyer and restructuring expert Ralf Hage from the nationally active law firm AndresPartner, who has been assisting the company as general representative in self-administration since August 2020. In this context, he emphasises the extraordinary circumstance that a one hundred percent insolvency ratio can be expected on the normal creditor claims thanks to the full continuation of the company in the current proceedings as well as the successful sale to Kontron. As a rule, the average insolvency ratio in corporate insolvency proceedings in Germany is between three and five percent.
The successful continuation of business operations despite insolvency and a worldwide shortage of materials in the electronics sector is based not only on the support of all customers and suppliers and the loyalty of the workforce, but also to a large extent on the far above-obligatory commitment of the managing partner Petra Wicher, who will continue to support the company in an advisory capacity.
As part of the transaction, Kontron is taking over all the assets of Ultraschalltechnik Halle, the site in Halle (Saale) including real estate and land, and will continue business operations with numerous well-known customers without restriction. All of the existing 40 jobs will be retained.
Kontron had prevailed in an orderly investor process as the ideal partner for Ultraschalltechnik Halle. The international search for investors was led by the consulting firm starkpartners consulting GmbH from Meerbusch in cooperation with the tax and management consultant Jens Titze from Dresden. The seller and buyer have agreed not to disclose the purchase price or the economic conditions.
“We would like to thank all the key parties involved, especially our employees, who have made the current continuation solution possible,” says Petra Wicher. She is firmly convinced that after the numerous discussions with investors, the solution that has now been found is the best one in the long term for the location in Halle/Saale and the employees working there.
According to Kontron Electronics, with the integration of UST it is enlarging its previous EMS division and intends to maintain the location in the long term and expand it in perspective. It is part of the technology group S&T AG with 6,000 employees worldwide and locations in 30 countries.
Background:
Due to corona-related revenue shortfalls, Ultraschalltechnik Halle GmbH had filed for the opening of insolvency proceedings in self-administration at the beginning of August 2020. As expected, the competent local court in Halle had opened the insolvency proceedings in self-administration on 1st October 2020. In order to cope with the complexity and the legal challenges of the restructuring, the management was assisted by lawyer Ralf Hage from the nationally active law firm AndresPartner as general representative. The local court appointed Herbert Feigl as administrator, who supervised and constructively supported the continuation of operations and the restructuring process, also in the interest of the creditors.
Additional information:
Ultraschalltechnik Halle GmbH (UST) is a partner for Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) – from development and design to the complete production of electronic assemblies, devices and systems. Since entering the market in 1992, UST Halle has developed into a reliable EMS service provider beyond the business location of Central Germany. With the takeover solution, the business units will be fully integrated into Kontron Electronics. The company now employs almost 600 people at seven locations throughout Europe and offers its customers comprehensive solutions to individual electronic problems, from development and production of all batch sizes to extensive test/inspection lines. Internet: www.kontron-electronics.de
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Thorsten Stark
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