/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR_Public/010209.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

             Friday, February 09, 2001, Vol. 2, No. 29


                            Headlines


B E L G I U M

CUSTOM SILICON:  Semiconductor Packager Sees Negative Cashflow
LERNOUT & HAUSPIE:  Mendez Unit to be Sold in June
SABENA AIRLINES:  Cancels Flights After Pilots' Walkout
VERLIPACK:  Dockx Buys Glass Company for BFr90 Million


G E R M A N Y

EM.TV:  Chief Plans Personal Infusion for Company
VIVITY MULTIMEDIA:  KPN Acquires German Database
WEB.DE AG:  Loses 28.5 Million Euros in 2000


I R E L A N D

EIRCOM PLC:  O'Brien Bids Anew for Eircom
HARLAND & WOLFF:  Fred Olsen Buys Titanic Quarter for $67.9 Mn


I T A L Y

ALITALIA LINEE:  To Appoint New CEO on Friday


N E T H E R L A N D S

AMEFO:  Austrian Company Rescues Airbag Manufacturer
FREEHOSTING.NL:  Venture Company Takes Over Dotcom Provider
JUSCO (EUROPE):  Japanese Retailer to Dissolve Unit


R U S S I A

MEDIA-MOST:  Gazprom to Buy Out Media-Most Shareholders


U N I T E D   K I N G D O M

ABBEY NATIONAL:  Mortgage Bank Rejects Lloyd's Offer
ANTISOMA:  Signals Fundraising Move
BALMORAL STEELS:  Notice Of Creditors Meeting
CORUS:  Steelworkers Protest Job Losses
HUNTINGDON LIFE:  Merrill Lynch Cuts Links with Huntingdon

MORLEY MEATS:  Notice Of Creditors Meeting
PREMIER SELECT:  Notice Of Creditors Meeting
SOMA LTD:  Notice Of Creditors Meeting
TRIFORM PRECISION:  Notice Of Creditors Meeting
TRONLOGIC LTD:  Notice Of Creditors Meeting

ULTIMA PUBLISHING:  Notice Of Creditors Meeting


=============
B E L G I U M
=============

CUSTOM SILICON:  Semiconductor Packager Sees Negative Cashflow
--------------------------------------------------------------
Custom Silicon Configuration Services said on Wednesday that it
does not expect to reach cashflow break-even before late June,
Reuters reports.

Custom Silicon has retained Regent Associates Ltd to help them
find strategic financial and/or industrial partners to be able to
return to its original business plan.

The semiconductor packager will not only implement cost-cutting
measures designed to reduce the turnover level needed to reach
cashflow break-even to about 3.3 million euros per month, but
also freeze capital expenditure and investments.

The company also said it has negotiated with lenders to convert
14.65 million euros in short-term loans granted in November into
long-term convertible loans.


LERNOUT & HAUSPIE:  Mendez Unit to be Sold in June
--------------------------------------------------
The Mendez unit of troubled speech recognition company Lernout &
Hauspie Speech Products NV will be sold by June 30 for at least
$185 million, according to Reuters' February 7 report.

Restructuring specialist Joseph D'Amico of Price Waterhouse said
that part of the proceeds would be used to repay L&H's proposed
$60 million debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing from Cerberus
Capital Management LP. DIP financing provides bankrupt companies
with money needed to continue normal business operations while
they restructure their debt.

D'Amico added that L&H and the two units, Dictaphone Corp. and
L&H Holdings, could not continue to operate without the
financing. All three filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection
in November in the United States.

L&H's financial advisor, Dhruv Narain of Credit Suisse First
Boston, testified that he expected Mendez to sell for at least
$185 million. He based the price on initial offers by five
unnamed European financial companies.


SABENA AIRLINES:  Cancels Flights After Pilots' Walkout
-------------------------------------------------------
A wildcat walkout by 140 Sabena pilots forced the ailing airline
to cancel dozens of flights from its Brussels hub on Wednesday
morning, stranding almost 4,300 passengers, AP Online reported
February 7.

The strike came a day before the national carrier's owners, the
Belgian government and SairGroup, were to decide whether to
proceed with a rescue plan that includes up to 700 job cuts.

Striking pilots also insisted on long-term employment guarantees
as well as a permanent seat for the pilots on the company's board
and veto power over major decisions.

The walkout ended by midday after an agreement between Sabena's
president and chief executive Christoph Mueller and striking
pilots was made. Representatives of the pilots declined to
release details of the deal.


VERLIPACK:  Dockx Buys Glass Company for BFr90 Million
------------------------------------------------------
Dockx, the Dessel-based building company, has bought the factory
site of glass factory Verlipack in Mol for BFr90 million, De
Standaard & World Reporter said in its February 6 edition.

Dockx, which has closed an agreement with the Openbare Vlaamse
Afvalstoffenmaatschappij for the purification of the polluted
site, has been active as a project developer in the last few
years. It employs 70 staff.


=============
G E R M A N Y
=============

EM.TV:  Chief Plans Personal Infusion for Company
-------------------------------------------------
Following bankers' demands, Chief Executive Thomas Haffa plans to
make an emergency investment of 30 million euros from his own
resources into EM.TV & Merchandising AG to help the company pay
off about 800 million euros in debt, The Wall Street Journal said
in its Wednesday report.

Meanwhile, a consortium of European investors and banks hopes to
move ahead with its own plans to bid for EM.TV's 50 percent stake
in the Formula One racing circuit. They will also talk about the
company's ability to make debt payments.

The group includes Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale, Deutsche
Bank AG's Morgan Grenfell Private Equity unit, and chief
executive Herbert Kloiber of Tele-Muenchen Gruppe, a television-
programming distributor that is 45 percent-owned by EM.TV.


VIVITY MULTIMEDIA:  KPN Acquires German Database
------------------------------------------------
Dutch telecom company KPN has taken over the assets of insolvent
German companies Vivity Multimedia Services and Vivity Publishing
& Partners for Fl 4 million and will be renamed KPN Freizeit,
according to Algemeen Dagblad & World Reporter on Wednesday.

The German companies manage one of the largest databases about
leisure activities in the country, which can be accessed via the
Internet or the mobile phone.

KPN will not take over the debts of the companies, but only the
32 employees.


WEB.DE AG:  Loses 28.5 Million Euros in 2000
--------------------------------------------
Internet portal Web.de AG's net loss for 2000 is at 28.5 million
euros ($26.49 million), said Reuters in its February 7 edition.
The loss, which is twice as high as its 11.9 million in sales,
has caused its shares to fall 13 percent on Wednesday.

According to Web.de Chief Executive Officer Matthias Greve, the
net loss was wider than expected as the company had earlier
forecasted a loss of 13 million euros.

Web.de said that due to a weak German online advertising market,
fourth-quarter sales came in at three million euros, about the
same level as in the third quarter.


=============
I R E L A N D
=============

EIRCOM PLC:  O'Brien Bids Anew for Eircom
-----------------------------------------
Eircom Plc is in renewed preliminary talks with eIsland, a
consortium led by entrepreneur Denis O'Brien, on its second
attempt to buy a majority of the telecom company, according to
The Times yesterday. Any eIsland bid would be conditional on the
completion of an agreement to sell Eircell, Eircom's mobile
telephone business, to Vodafone.

Eisland, which in October made an unsuccessful 1.43 billion
pounds bid for Eircom's fixed-line business, is the leading
provider of telecommunications services in Ireland.

As of March 2000, the company has a long-term debt of 200.00
million euros and total liabilities of 1.50 billion euros.


HARLAND & WOLFF:  Fred Olsen Buys Titanic Quarter for $67.9 Mn
--------------------------------------------------------------
Norway's Fred Olsen Energy said on Thursday it was buying the
100-acre Titanic Quarter of Harland and Wolff Properties Ltd, and
35 acres of partly developed commercial land beside the yard, for
46 million pounds ($67.19 million), according to Reuters'
February 7 report.

This move will improve the position of Harland and Wolff, which
has a long-term debt of about some five million pounds, to
succeed in competing and obtaining orders.

Fred Olsen Energy owns about 70 percent of Harland and Wolff.


=========
I T A L Y
=========

ALITALIA LINEE:  To Appoint New CEO on Friday
---------------------------------------------
Later this week Alitalia will appoint rail network's current
chief financial officer Francesco Mengozzi as its new chief
executive.

In a report dated February 7, Reuters said that the loss-making
flag carrier held a board meeting on Wednesday to discuss its
future after Domenico Cempella resigned as CEO on February 2.
Mengozzi will be appointed at a new meeting on Friday.

Alitalia, 53 percent owned by the Treasury, has held talks with
Dutch group KLM, Air France and Swissair, but so far negotiations
have produced nothing.


=====================
N E T H E R L A N D S
=====================

AMEFO:  Austrian Company Rescues Airbag Manufacturer
----------------------------------------------------
Austrian company Neumann has taken over airbag parts manufacturer
Amefo which was declared insolvent in early January, Algemeen
Dagblad & World Reporter in its February 6 edition said. The
takeover had been expected for weeks.

Union manager G. Kruithof said that all 200 Amefo employees would
be able to keep their jobs with the rescue deal.


FREEHOSTING.NL:  Venture Company Takes Over Dotcom Provider
-----------------------------------------------------------
Venture capital company Renessence Ventures is taking over
Internet provider Freehosting.nl, which filed for suspension of
payment last week through the subsidiary LaDot, Het Financieele
Dagblad & World Reporter said in its February 6 edition.

Renessence Ventures founder Nina Brink and co-director Eric
Tolsma have waited until they could acquire Freehosting for a few
millions. Just before summer, the company was estimated to be
worth Fl 100 million.


JUSCO (EUROPE):  Japanese Retailer to Dissolve Unit
---------------------------------------------------
Japanese supermarket chain Jusco Co. will dissolve its European
fundraising unit, Jusco (Europe) B.V., in May, according to
Agence France-Presse on Wednesday. The liquidation would cost
about 43 million dollars to cover investment losses, according to
Jusco spokesman Kenichi Arai.

There were no employees at the subsidiary as it was already a
shell company, he added.


===========
R U S S I A
===========

MEDIA-MOST:  Gazprom to Buy Out Media-Most Shareholders
-------------------------------------------------------
Natural gas giant Gazprom offered to buy the shares of other
shareholders in media company Media-Most on Wednesday to salvage
several hundred million dollars in investments, Reuters reported
Wednesday.

Russian tycoon Vladimir Gusinsky, who owes hundreds of million of
dollars to Gazprom, a major Media-Most shareholder, said that the
buyout offer and voting trust proposal were part of Gazprom's
desire to make Media-Most the most professional and successful
independent media group in Russia.

Gusinsky was forced to hand over 46 percent of NTV to Gazprom's
media arm to pay off some of the debt.


===========================
U N I T E D   K I N G D O M
===========================


ABBEY NATIONAL:  Mortgage Bank Rejects Lloyd's Offer
----------------------------------------------------
On Wednesday Abbey National rejected Lloyds TSB's near 20 billion
pounds conditional takeover offer, according to The Times in its
Thursday edition. The formal bid was a mix of cash and shares in
a takeover that would have created a new banking and mortgage
giant.

The mortgage bank said that the pre-conditional offer and the
terms announced on January 31 were the same as those proposed by
Lloyds TSB in December. It added that the proposed offer terms
remained inadequate and subject to material uncertainties.

Lloyds said its bid was conditional on Abbey directors
recommending the offer to shareholders.


ANTISOMA:  Signals Fundraising Move
-----------------------------------
Biopharmaceutical company Antisoma Plc has signaled a fundraising
later this year either by an equity issue or by licensing an
early-stage product, according to The Times in its February 8
report.

The biotechnology group also reported a loss per share of 0.02
pounds during the first quarter of 2001. As of June 2000, the
company's long-term debt was 19,000.00 pounds and total
liabilities of 2.58 million pounds.

Antisoma specializes in pre-clinical and clinical development of
products for treating cancer. Its laboratories in Great Britain
focuse on clinical studies towards the development of innovative
tumor targeting products based on monoclonal antibody or peptide
vectors.


BALMORAL STEELS:  Notice Of Creditors Meeting
---------------------------------------------
Company Name:   Balmoral Steels Ltd
IA 1986 Section:   98  Creditors
Meeting Time:   11.30 am
Meeting date:   08/01/01
Meeting address:   Beaufort House  94-96 Newhall Street
Meeting City Code:   Birmingham   B3 1PB
Authorised by:   C Burns   Director  15/12/00
Firm Name:   Moore Stephens Booth White
Address:   Beaufort House  94-96 Newhall Street  Birmingham  B3
1PB


CORUS:  Steelworkers Protest Job Losses
---------------------------------------
Steelworkers at the Scunthorpe plant in Lincolnshire have voted
60 percent to protest compulsory job losses last year by steel
giant Corus, The Times said in its Thursday edition. Since then
the company has unveiled plans to cut more than 6,000 jobs across
the country, mainly in Wales and the north east of England.

According to the general secretary of the Iron and Steel Trades
Confederation, the ballot result shows how angry Corus' employees
are because they feel betrayed and stabbed in the back by their
executives.

Steel union officials had a meeting yesterday to draw up a rescue
package aimed at saving the 6,000 threatened jobs.


HUNTINGDON LIFE:  Merrill Lynch Cuts Links with Huntingdon
----------------------------------------------------------
Investment bank Merrill Lynch has closed down the nominee
accounts holding about 8 million shares in Huntingdon Life
Sciences, according to Electronic Telegraph's February 5 report.

Merrill, together with HSBC, CSFB and WestLB, abandoned
Huntingdon Life in the face of protests from animal rights
campaigners.

The Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (Shac) and other protestors
have now forced every major bank, except Bank of New York, to
withdraw nominee services to Huntingdon Life shareholders. If
investors cannot find someone to provide nominee services, they
will be forced to publicly disclose their ownership of their
shares.

Shac added that Stephens Group, Huntingdon's largest shareholder,
already removed any reference to the UK office from its Web site.
The move comes as Shac prepares to increase its campaign against
Stephens in the US.


MORLEY MEATS:  Notice Of Creditors Meeting
------------------------------------------
Company Name:   Morley Meats Ltd
IA 1986 Section:   98  Creditors
Meeting Time:   12.00 pm
Meeting date:   08/01/01
Meeting address:   Freemasons Hall  Bridge Street
Meeting City Code:   Manchester   M3 3BT
Authorised by:   M F Dickens   Director  08/12/00
Firm Name:   A H Tomlinson & Co
Address:   St Johns Court  72 Gartside Street  Manchester  M3 3EL


PREMIER SELECT:  Notice Of Creditors Meeting
--------------------------------------------
Company Name:   Premier Select Ltd
IA 1986 Section:   48  Creditors
Meeting Time:   03.00 pm
Meeting date:   08/01/01
Meeting address:   St Johns Court  72 Gartside Street
Meeting City Code:   Manchester   M3 3EL
Authorised by:   A H Tomlinson   Administrative Receiver  
20/12/00
Last day for proxy:   05/01/01
Proxy address:   St Johns Court  72 Gartside Street  Manchester  
M3 3EL
Firm Name:   A H Tomlinson & Co
Address:   St Johns Court  72 Gartside Street  Manchester  M3 3EL


SOMA LTD:  Notice Of Creditors Meeting
--------------------------------------
Company Name:   Soma Ltd
IA 1986 Section:   98  Creditors
Meeting Time:   10.30 am
Meeting date:   08/01/01
Meeting address:   Mountview Court  1148 High Road  Whetstone
Meeting City Code:   London   N20 0RA
Authorised by:   P Tidy   Director  19/12/00
Last day for proxy:   07/01/01
Proxy address:   Mountview Court  1148 High Road  Whetstone  
London  N20 0RA
Liquidators:   Kikis Kallis
Firm Name:   Kallis & Co
Address:   Mountview Court  1148 High Road  Whetstone  London  
N20 0RA


TRIFORM PRECISION:  Notice Of Creditors Meeting
-----------------------------------------------
Company Name:   Triform Precision Technology Ltd
IA 1986 Section:   48  Creditors
Meeting Time:   02.30 pm
Meeting date:   08/01/01
Meeting address:   Beaufort House  94-96 Newhall Street
Meeting City Code:   Birmingham   B3 1PB
Authorised by:   N Price   Joint Administrative Receiver  
18/12/00
Last day for proxy:   05/01/01
Proxy address:   Beaufort House  94-96 Newhall Street  Birmingham  
B3 1PB
Firm Name:   Moore Stephens Booth White
Address:   Beaufort House  94-96 Newhall Street  Birmingham  B3
1PB


TRONLOGIC LTD:  Notice Of Creditors Meeting
-------------------------------------------
Company Name:   Tronlogic Ltd
IA 1986 Section:   98  Creditors
Meeting Time:   11.30 am
Meeting date:   08/01/01
Meeting address:   The Fernlea Hotel  18 South Promenade
Meeting City Code:   St Annes   
Authorised by:   T R Mortimer   Director  11/12/00
Last day for proxy:   05/01/01
Proxy address:   348-350 Lytham Road  Blackpool  FY4 1DW
Firm Name:   Campbell Crossley & Davis
Address:   348-350 Lytham Road  Blackpool  FY4 1DW


ULTIMA PUBLISHING:  Notice Of Creditors Meeting
-----------------------------------------------
Company Name:   Ultima Publishing Ltd
IA 1986 Section:   98  Creditors
Meeting Time:   12.00 pm
Meeting date:   08/01/01
Meeting address:   Sherlock House  7 Kenrick Place
Meeting City Code:   London   W1U 6HE
Authorised by:   G Miller   Director  19/12/00
Last day for proxy:   05/01/01
Proxy address:   Sherlock House  7 Kenrick Place  London  W1U 6HE
Firm Name:   Horwath Clark Whitehill & Co
Address:   Sherlock House  7 Kenrick Place  London  W1U 6HE



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,
Salve M. Mordeno and Cristina Pernites, Editors.

Copyright 2001.  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.


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