German panel products manufacturer Hornitex Werke is hoping a rescue attempt can pull the company back from the financial brink.
Hornitex filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month to stave off pressure from creditors. The procedure saw consultants – with a similar role to receivers in the UK – appointed to put together a survival strategy for the company.
The consultants have been able to secure interim funding from the banks and are expected to produce their reorganisation strategy by mid-August.
Frank Janssen, Hornitex marketing manager, told TTJ: ‘The consultants are making decisions about the reorganisation and restructuring of the business and, when they are finished, we hope we will be able to create a new Hornitex by the end of the year.
‘We have been successful in the market and have a sustainable turnover, so we feel that once the decision on the re-structuring is made we can move forward.’
Mr Janssen would not comment on the reasons for the DM850m-turnover company’s shock filing for bankruptcy protection, or whether a US$46m investment in a power station at Horn could have prompted the move.
Hornitex, which is still owned by the founding Kunnemeyer family, is continuing production at its two MDF lines, five particleboard lines and its semi-dry fibreboard line, located at Horn-Bad Meinberg, Nidda, Beeskow and Duisberg.
Mr Janssen said that business was continuing to take and process orders as usual. So far, he added, none of the 2,700-strong workforce had been laid off.
