Atlantik Is Poised to Acquire The German Wood-Based Panels Group Pfleiderer

The investment firm Atlantik is poised to acquire the German wood-based panels group Pfleiderer, which has been insolvent since 28 March. Atlantik has little history in the private equity and wood-based panels industries. The transaction is linked to an insolvency plan that Pfleiderer unveiled on 3 August and filed with the Düsseldorf District Court on 16 August. The take-over is to take place in several stages. In the first step, Pfleiderer AG is to reduce its share capital to zero to cover its negative equity. Atlantik will be the sole subscriber to new shares during a subsequent increase in share capital through contributions in cash and in kind. The investment firm would thus become Pfleiderer AG's sole shareholder. When unveiling the insolvency plan in early August, Pfleiderer had announced that it would not seek to list the new shares on the stock exchange and intended to delist the firm. Previous shareholders and holders of a hybrid bond issued through Pfleiderer Finance B.V. in April 2007 will no longer have shares in Pfleiderer AG. They will thus lose all of their capital.