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09. 02. 10. - 16:00

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09. 02. 10. - 16:00

Artec starts bankruptcy proceedings

Machine builder Artec Maschinenbau GmbH entered bankruptcy proceedings today (Tues) in Upper Austria, according to the Credit Protection Agency of 1870 (KSV) and Creditreform.

KSV said the bankruptcy would affect the firm’s 20 employees and 137 creditors. KSV put Artec’s debt at around 4.8 million Euros and added the firm would seek a forced settlement with creditors.

KSV said Artec had one million Euros in short-term debt that should be paid immediately and the rest of its debt was long-term.

The reason for the decision to enter bankruptcy proceedings, KSV said, was a drastic decline in orders as recession had a strong negative impact on the machine building industry.

Artec entered bankruptcy proceedings for the first time in 2004 and won a forced settlement with creditors providing for payment of 20 cents on each Euro owed.

The bankruptcy of its parent firm, Salzburg’s DMT Technology GmbH, at the end of last month with debt of 18.8 million Euros had been the last straw for Artec this time around, KSV said.

In a recent case involving another machine building firm, Reich-Austria GmbH and its parent holding group Holz-Her GmbH entered bankruptcy proceedings last month.

The Alpine Land Creditors Association (AKV) said the firms, based in Voitsberg, Styria, had debts of around 37 million Euros and more than 800 creditors.

AKV said the proceedings would affect 260 of 290 employees in Austria and 90 in Germany.

Reich-Austria, founded in 1914, suffered a massive drop in business because of recession and a 50 per cent fall in turnover year on year to 50 million Euros in 2009 that led banks to slash its credit lines, AKV said.

Reich-Austria specialises in high-value machines for the wood-working industry.

Another Styrian firm, BM-Battery Machines GmbH based in Ebersdorf, also entered bankruptcy proceedings last month on the back of a lack of own capital in what was the first big Austrian bankruptcy in 2010 with the company’s debts reported at 6.4 million Euros.

Austrian Times

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