Photovoltaics manufacturer Gehrlicher Solar AG, which recently filed for bankruptcy protection in Germany, may have found a potential solution for the future of the company. The search for an investor, in particular for the successfully growing US subsidiary, is proceeding satisfactorily according to the preliminary administrator Oliver Schartl of the Munich law firm Müller-Heydenreich Beutler & Kollegen. "I see very good prospects of being soon able to sell Gehrlicher Solar America Corporation to an investor" said Schartl. The exploratory discussions in the course of the search for an investor supported by a German and US M&A consultancy firm are already at an advanced stage.
Gehrlicher's troubles started with the introduction of anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese solar modules and resulting deterioration in market conditions in Europe, with the result that the company no longer saw itself in a position to satisfy the conditions of the loan agreement and, on 5 July 2013, filed for preliminary reorganisation proceedings at the Munich Local Court. The company's application was a direct reaction to the banks' notice of their intention to call in the loans.
According to Schartl, solar projects of the Italian and Spanish subsidiaries and existing project rights are being offered on the market by M&A consultants. He emphasises that the foreign independent subsidiaries have sound trading positions and are not affected directly by the filing. For Gehrlicher Solar AG, Schartl and his team and the company's management are considering at present the possibilities of a bankruptcy reorganisation plan with the involvement of an investor in order to retain major parts of the company.
Meanwhile, the preliminary administrator has, in close co-operation with the preliminary creditors' committee, succeeded in stabilising the business and in securing the wages and salaries of the employees by means of a bridging financing of the state bankruptcy wages and salaries support. "All employees will be paid up to the end of September" said Schartl. All areas of the business can for the moment continue unchanged.
"The banks have approved an estate loan of several millions Euros so that sites on which Gehrlicher Solar AG solar parks are under construction, mainly in Romania, can be completed on schedule", said Schartl. In Rumania alone, the company has five projects in progress with a volume of more than eleven million Euros.
The implementation of the company's reorganisation, begun prior to the filing, will continue, according to the administrator, in order that the position of Gehrlicher Solar AG on the market is improved. "The company has the potential for long-term success in the very competitive industry. From the long-term perspective, the future prospects for photovoltaic are very good worldwide. The falling manufacturing costs of recent years make solar energy internationally increasingly competitive compared to conventional energy forms" said Schartl. ""We view the compromise in the EU trade dispute with China as positive to the extent that it will at least restore certain stability to the market."
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