Our Case Studies

nicko cruises, the market leader for river cruises in Europe, had to file for insolvency before the start of the main season. The insolvency administrator, Mr. Michael Pluta from PLUTA Rechtsanwalts GmbH, managed to ensure that the tours in Europe, Africa and Asia took place until the end of the 2015 season. This means that the PLUTA team secured more than 30,000 tours, which was very difficult at the beginning. Moreover, the restructuring experts also optimised the capacity utilisation of the entire fleet and searched for an investor. With success: nicko cruises was acquired by the Portuguese holding company Mystic Invest which is active in the field of travel organisation. When business was restarted officially on 1 November 2015, the insolvency administrator’s team symbolically handed over the key to the new company.

Mr. Stephan Ammann, an attorney at PLUTA Rechtsanwalts GmbH, was involved in the proceedings for the assets of a real estate company with 2,400 residential and commercial properties. Now, almost two years after the opening of insolvency proceedings of BGP Immo-West S.à.r.l. & Co. KG, Stephan Ammann has succeeded in selling all the properties. The properties are located in seven cities in North Rhine-Westphalia and four cities in North Germany, including Duisburg, Essen, Bremen and Bremerhaven. Most of the real estate portfolio was acquired by the various fund companies belonging to the US American Ares Management L.P. In ten further individual transactions, Stephan Amman sold 674 residential units. The fact that the complete real estate portfolio was successfully sold in under two years shows that an insolvency may be the better option when it comes to making decisions in the interest of the creditors. The key to success in selling real estate portfolios of this size is a close cooperation with powerful and financially sound banks. In these proceedings, the mutual interest in achieving an optimal sale made a decisive contribution to a successful outcome since it ensured flexible portfolio management resulting in the lowest costs and the highest selling price possible.

The debtor-in-possession proceedings for the Osterhofen Specialist Clinic in the South of Germany with a workforce of almost 100 employees have been successfully completed. Mr. Stephan Ammann from PLUTA Rechtsanwalts GmbH acted as the insolvency monitor in these proceedings. Mr. Ammann and Mr. Ivo-Meinert Willrodt supported the successful restructuring and monitored the proceedings so as to prevent any disadvantages for the creditors. The clinic took advantage of this opportunity and, despite the crisis, even managed to set up a new department through targeted investment. A visible proof of success: the number of beds authorised by the Bavarian hospital plan and also the number of employees increased during the proceedings.

We were appointed by creditors (Including a major Australian trading bank) to this highly regarded manufacturer of components for the military, aviation and automotive sectors. As liquidator we continued to trade the business for the benefit of service to key customers, including the manufacture auto-industry parts for sale to the US market, and bullets for the Australian Army whilst the business was marketed.

After a successful marketing and sales process we sold all the assets to various buyers around the world.

This case involved the successful rescue and sale of Southampton Football Club – Southampton FC had been in financial difficulty for some time due to its failure to regain top-flight status coupled with overheads too great for a Championship team. Under review of its bankers, the club desperately needed to reduce its costs and increase cash flow. The bank approached our team in London alliance member to advise the directors on a plan to save the club.

We implemented a radical restructuring plan leading to a successful sale of both the club and related assets. A hands-on, partner-led approach meant the Club survived, saving jobs and benefiting the community. Key elements of this success can be summarised as: focussed initiatives to raise cash; strong decision around removal of management; consensual restructuring around major creditors; winning creditor support; use of media to send required message; determination to achieve sale; and ultimately, creditor’s payment.

In 2013, PLUTA Rechtsanwalts GmbH succeeded in selling the Göppingen-based toy manufacturer Gebr. Märklin & Cie GmbH to a member company of the Simba-Dickie Group. After Märklin, a traditional German enterprise, filed for insolvency in March 2009, we pursued a course of restructuring and brought the model railway manufacturer back on the road to success. The insolvency Administrator, Michael Pluta, managed to fully meet the creditors’ claims. The payout to all the creditors has in the meantime reached a sum in the high-eight-digit range.

In the case of Geiger technologies GmbH, PLUTA Rechtsanwalts GmbH succeeded in selling company shares to the Dutch investment company HTP. Geiger technologies supplies the car industry with components and generated revenues of approximately € 100 million. The insolvency Administrator, Dr. Martin Prager, succeeded in turning the company around. The Local Court of Weilheim had opened insolvency proceedings on 1 February 2009. Proceedings ended in mid-2015.

We were appointed Receiver by the court for the companies and related properties on a court motion brought by a number of the property mortgagees in North America.

We took possession and control of the properties and underlying businesses and continued operations in the businesses that were currently in operation to preserve as much value as possible. Included in the continued operations were four retirement homes, five commercial properties, two private schools and daycares, two multi-unit apartment buildings, a golf course and a number of properties under development and/or were vacant buildings and land. Once all the assets were stabilized, a court-approved sales process, agreeable by all the relevant mortgagees, was undertaken to sell the assets and/or properties.

Globally, the receivership encompasses 12 legal entities which owned 24 properties. The Court Order provided for ring fencing among all the real properties and businesses resulting in a separate estate and operating and liquidating strategy for each property.

At time of writing the receivership is ongoing, however we have sold but one of the properties and the mortgagees and secured lenders have been repaid in full.

This is a UK based hedge fund manager that manages various funds in Offshore jurisdictions. Following litigation in the US and a highly publicised landmark ruling, following action by the SEC, it suffered an award in excess of $50m which was followed by a Restraining Order being issued by the US Court. We were appointed to the Company in the UK as Joint Administrators and are now managing the company and pursing a highly complex appeal in the US Courts against the earlier ruling.

A leading energy support services provider approached us to assist with arranging its new debt facilities due to their strategic importance and the challenging market environment.

We were able to assist their finance team with developing the right information to deliver to investors and use our detailed knowledge of bank processes to negotiate the right covenants and banking structure. The funding provided committed lines for further organic growth, as well as additional facilities to support strategic acquisitions.

The new debt package saw the company’s existing debt provider joined by four additional banking partners. In the current market, our ability to work flexibly and cost-effectively allowed the company, rather than its banking partners, to drive the financing package and deliver this efficiently.