/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR

/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR_Public/010103.mbx T R O U B L E D C O M P A N Y R E P O R T E R E U R O P E Wednesday, January 3, 2001, Vol. 2, No. 02 Headlines F R A N C E SOCIETE FRANCAISE: Seeks Merger with France Television G E R M A N Y MOKSEL AG: German Firm Up for Sale N E T H E R L A N D S BOODSCHAPPENLIJN.NL: Investors No Longer Interested, CEO Says LETSBUYIT.COM: Seeks Freeze on Debt Payments TOTAL-E: Internet Service Provider Nears Insolvency P O L A N D HUTA KATOWICE: TF Silesia Receives ZL32m Loan from PKO BP S P A I N BANCO ARABE: Must Increase Capital or Face Liquidation S W E D E N CORE VENTURES: Company Opts For Debt Restructuring STOCKHOLM NEWS: Liquidation Looms Over Newspaper Publisher U N I T E D K I N G D O M DEEP-SEA LEISURE: Aspro Attempts Deep-Sea Rescue E M BOWMAN: Liquidation Proceedings EQUITABLE LIFE: Higher Penalties Prompt Investigation EUROSOFT CO: Liquidation Proceedings IN2FILM LTD: Liquidation Proceedings JUPITER EUROPEAN: Liquidation Proceedings KOREA INVESTMENT: Liquidation Proceedings MILLENIUM DOME: Troubled Dome Closes After One Year in Operation MISSING RECORDS: Liquidation Proceedings SIMITAL TRADING: Liquidation Proceedings STAFFORDSHIRE TABLE-WARE: Ceramics Maker in Receivership =========== F R A N C E =========== SOCIETE FRANCAISE: Seeks Merger with France Television ------------------------------------------------------- A majority of the staff of the state-owned Societe Francaise de Production favors the integration of SFP into France Television. This option is among five other options voted upon by staff members in a referendum organized by the unions at SFP. Other choices include filing for bankruptcy, restructuring, liquidation or a buy-out by its managers. An internal committee within SFP proposed these alternatives after the company showed a loss of FFr 25m on turnover of FFr 400m. Le Monde reports that the head of France Television is not in favor of the proposal, stating that the integration would upset the balance in the production sector and annoy private producers. A meeting of Culture Minister Catherine Tasca and union representatives is scheduled for January 18 to map out the firm's future. ============= G E R M A N Y ============= MOKSEL AG: German Firm Up for Sale ----------------------------------- German meat processing company Moskel AG is being prepared for sale by Werner Folger. By increasing the holdings under its control from 33.81 percent to 49 percent, Folger hopes to make it easier to find a buyer for a majority stake in the company. In the past Folger has been unable to find a buyer for Moksel (formerly part of Gebr Marz AG) because a majority shareholding could not be secured. Folger created a new company, BFL Beteiligungsgesellschaft fur Lebensmittelunternehmen mbH, for this reason. He added his own shares to those of an unidentified group of small shareholders representing 15.1 percent; the extra shares will be paid for once a buyer for the whole package has been found. As of the end of 1999, Moskel posted a negative working capital: liabilities were 333.15 million Euro while total current assets were only 256.99 million Euro. The Suddeutsche Zeitung & World Reporter further states that Folger is now looking to add an additional 2 to 3 percent in order to reach the absolute majority. ===================== N E T H E R L A N D S ===================== BOODSCHAPPENLIJN.NL: Investors No Longer Interested, CEO Says -------------------------------------------------------------- Boodschappenlijn.nl chief executive Roy Hofwijs says that investors in the Dutch Internet delivery service are no longer interested in his initiative. The firm filed for liquidation two weeks ago after stating that it needed Fl 1.5m to make a profit. The Algemeen Dagblad & World Reporter relates that the firm lasted a mere 11 months, starting from February 2000. LETSBUYIT.COM: Seeks Freeze on Debt Payments --------------------------------------------- High-profile Internet company Letsbuyit.com sought protection from its creditors in a Dutch court to delay making payments on its debt while seeking an extra pounds 50m in funding. The firm's chief executive officer, Martin Coles said: "We still have cash and strong sales growth, we don't have any prospects of receiving funding in the short term, so we felt it was prudent to take this stand." The Guardian reports that after the company announced the plan to delay debt repayments, it requested a halt in trading of its Frankfurt shares. Letsbuyit.com has been running out of cash since it went public in July, having only raised half the amount it was hoping for. The company said it was not possible to say how much money it had left at this stage. TOTAL-E: Internet Service Provider Nears Insolvency ---------------------------------------------------- A spokesperson for the Capelle aan den Ijssel branch of the U.S. Internet company Total-e says that the firm's debt burden has reached millions of guilders. The World Reporter and the Het Financieele Dagblad report the firm is probably insolvent. Although an official announcement has yet to be made, the fifty or so employees of the company reportedly will have to look for a new employer before the judge orders the liquidation. The company spokesperson said that it's only a matter of time before the liquidation proceedings begin. =========== P O L A N D =========== HUTA KATOWICE: TF Silesia Receives ZL32m Loan from PKO BP ---------------------------------------------------------- TF Silesia will receive a loan package of Zlotys L32m from PKO BP to be used for the repayment of the installments of the Zlotys L350m loan granted to Huta Katowice (HK) steel mills by six Polish banks. TF Silesia, formed to service the HK debts, has until today to transfer a total of ZL30m of the installments. If unable to, the banks will most likely cancel the ZL350m loan agreement. Polish News Bulletin reports this means HK would have to repay the entire loan, which could lead to the company's bankruptcy. After the payment of the ZL30m, state-owned TF Silesia will be searching for a provider of monthly loans amounting to ZL150m. ========= S P A I N ========= BANCO ARABE: Must Increase Capital or Face Liquidation ------------------------------------------------------- Perhaps due to an asset deficiency of around 5bn ptas, Bank of Spain Governor Jaime Caruana has called on Aresbank to either increase capital or carry out a orderly liquidation. The bank has called a board meeting for January 5 to discuss a capital increase. A quorum was not reached yesterday due to the absence of the banks' Arab shareholders constituting 66 percent. Among these are the Libyan Arab Foreign Bank with 30 percent and the Kuwait Foreign Trading, also with 30 percent. The Spanish shareholders, which include Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) with 16.67 percent, want the Arab shareholders to come up with a plan before saving the bank. The December 29 edition of the Pais reports that in the last general shareholders meeting, the Spanish state holding SEPI intended to pull out its 7.3 percent share in the bank. SEPI inherited the stake from the old INI. =========== S W E D E N =========== CORE VENTURES: Company Opts For Debt Restructuring --------------------------------------------------- Core Ventures has terminated its management agreement with Fideli & Partner to provide investment consultancy services in order to reduce expenses. Fedeli & Partner, a company owned by Core's managing director and key shareholder Franco Fideli, charges Core SKr 1m per month for the services in exchange for the right to 20 percent of all capital gains on disposals. The cancelled agreement also gave the Fideli & Partner the right to 20 percent of all capital gains on disposals. Withdrawing from the agreement protects Fideli & Partner from a loss if shares were to be sold at a loss. Dagens Industri & World Reporter said that Core Ventures would restructure its debts by issuing shares -- priced at SKr 1 per share -- to its institutional shareholders, which should bring in around SKr 15m. Core is also reportedly redeeming a convertible bond ahead of maturity. STOCKHOLM NEWS: Liquidation Looms Over Newspaper Publisher ----------------------------------------------------------- The planned infusion of fresh capital by Dutch Publisher De Telegraaf to Stockholm News Provider will not be realized, this according to the World Reporter. However, the agreement -- which was planned for this month -- was reportedly not sufficient to make the newspaper profitable, thereby prompting the Stockholm News Provider board to advise shareholders to go into liquidation. The shareholders meeting on January 8, 2001, is expected to approve the plan. =========================== U N I T E D K I N G D O M =========================== DEEP-SEA LEISURE: Aspro Attempts Deep-Sea Rescue ------------------------------------------------- Spanish leisure park operator Aspro is taking a 29 percent stake in Deep-Sea Leisure and will place one of its executives on the board to keep Deep-Sea's out of financial trouble. Since cost overruns were reported on its Blue Planet Aquarium in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, share prices have crashed from 147p to 31p. Since then Allied Irish and Bank of Ireland have put up pounds 2m to help cover the overruns, which ultimately amounted to pounds 15m. According to the Daily Mail, Aspro is taking a 29 percent stake in the company and the Irish banks have agreed to write off the pounds 2m while Deep-Sea seeks pounds 2m at 30p a share, all in accordance with Deep-Sea's refinancing program. Michael Denny, a director of Deep-Sea's main stockholder Northern Ventures said: "It is fair to say that as investors we have not been happy with what happened." Northern Ventures' current stake stands at 10 percent. Wright Investors' Service says that at the end of 2000, Deep-Sea Leisure had negative working capital with current liabilities of 12.69 million pounds, while total current assets were only 889,000 pounds. E M BOWMAN: Liquidation Proceedings ----------------------------------- Company Name: E M Bowman (Haulage) Ltd Company No: SC Appointed on: 21/11/00 Type: Creditors Appointed by: Creditors Liquidators: J Douglas Anderson IPno: 6350 Firm Name: Findlay Anderson Address: 50 Darnley Street City Postcode: Glasgow G41 2SE EQUITABLE LIFE: Higher Penalties Prompt Investigation ------------------------------------------------------ The Office of Fair Trading will conduct an investigation to determine if Equitable Life has breached contract law by increasing the penalty clause of policies redeemed before maturity date. The move was prompted by fears that the cashing in of policies would plunge the group further into financial crisis. Annanova reports that Equitable's decision to shut down new business led to the cashing-in despite the increase of the penalty clause from 5 to 10 percent. EUROSOFT CO: Liquidation Proceedings ------------------------------------- Company Name: Eurosoft Co Ltd Company No: IR Appointed on: 21/11/00 Type: Members Appointed by: Members Liquidators: Tony Thornbury IPno: Firm Name: Pannell Kerr Forster Address: 17 Percy Place City Postcode: Dublin 4 IN2FILM LTD: Liquidation Proceedings ------------------------------------- Company Name: In2film Ltd Previous Name: Inside Film Ltd Company No: 3572101 Com. Business: Publishing Film Magazines Appointed on: 21/11/00 Type: Creditors Appointed by: Creditors and Members Liquidators: L A Manning IPno: 6477 G P Squires 7856 Firm Name: Kroll Buchler Phillips Address: 84 Grosvenor Street City Postcode: London W1X 9DF JUPITER EUROPEAN: Liquidation Proceedings ------------------------------------------ Company Name: Jupiter European Investment Trust Plc Previous Name: Assetindex Plc Company No: 2464874 Com. Business: Investment Trust Appointed on: 21/11/00 Type: Members Appointed by: Members Liquidators: David J Pallen IPno: 5317 Michael D Rollings 8107 Firm Name: Ernst & Young Address: Rolls House 7 Rolls Building Fetter Lane City Postcode: London EC4A 1NH KOREA INVESTMENT: Liquidation Proceedings ------------------------------------------ Company Name: Korea Investment Management Ireland Lt Company No: IR Appointed on: 21/11/00 Type: Members Appointed by: Members Liquidators: David Hargaden IPno: Firm Name: Hargaden Moor Address: Grand Canal House 1 Upper Grand Canal Street City Postcode: Dublin 4 MILLENIUM DOME: Troubled Dome Closes After One Year in Operation ----------------------------------------------------------------- The Millenium Dome finally closed on December 31 at 7:30 p.m. According to the Guardian, after four months as chairman of the troubled theme attraction, David James regards the closing of the Dome as a success. To keep the Dome open, the U.K.'s foremost financial troubleshooter was brought in last September when the Dome was technically bankrupt and hours from closure. By midnight on the 31st the Dome's leased lighting system was to have been dismantled and returned to its owners, who will ship them off to new customers in the continent. MISSING RECORDS: Liquidation Proceedings ----------------------------------------- Company Name: Missing Records Ltd Company No: SC Appointed on: 21/11/00 Type: Creditors Appointed by: Creditors Liquidators: William D Robb IPno: 5199 Firm Name: W D Robb Address: Scott House 12/16 South Frederick Street City Postcode: Glasgow G1 1HJ SIMITAL TRADING: Liquidation Proceedings ----------------------------------------- Company Name: Simital Trading Ltd Company No: IR Appointed on: 21/11/00 Type: Members Appointed by: Members Liquidators: Barbara Ritter-Hagen Address: Weiherstrasse 13 9495 Triesen City Postcode: Liechtenst STAFFORDSHIRE TABLE-WARE: Ceramics Maker in Receivership --------------------------------------------------------- The Daily Telegraph reports that Staffordshire Tableware, which makes and distributes ceramic ware, has gone into receivership. It is thought that the company, which employs about 600, has been losing pounds 250,000 per month for the last six months. S U B S C R I P T I O N I N F O R M A T I O N Troubled Company Reporter -- Europe is a daily newsletter co- published by Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., Trenton, NJ USA, and Beard Group, Inc., Washington, DC USA. Lexy Mueller, Jessie Elumba and Cristina Pernites Editors. Copyright 2000. All rights reserved. ISSN 1529-2754. This material is copyrighted and any commercial use, resale or publication in any form (including e-mail forwarding, electronic re-mailing and photocopying) is strictly prohibited without prior written permission of the publishers. Information contained herein is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed. The TCR Europe subscription rate is $575 per half-year, delivered via e-mail. Additional e-mail subscriptions for members of the same firm for the term of the initial subscription or balance thereof are $25 each. For subscription information, contact Christopher Beard at 301/951-6400. * * * End of Transmission * * *