/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR

/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR_Public/010425.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, April 25, 2001, Vol. 2, No. 81 Headlines * B E L G I U M * SABENA SA: Sees Internet Sales at 20 Million Euro * G E R M A N Y * NSE SOFTWARE: Appoints Tr'gele as Board Chairman RAVENSBERGER AG: To Apply for Insolvency TELDAFAX AG: WAXS Bid Collapses * I R E L A N D * EIRCOM PLC: Asks Court to Quash Meridian Ruling EIRCOM PLC: O'Brien Seeks Support From Eircom EIRCOM PLC: O'Reilly Close to Winning Control of Eircom EIRCOM PLC: Soros Teams With O'Reilly for Eircom Bid * I T A L Y * ALITALIA-LINEE: French Airline Declines Comment on Tie-up Talk ALITALIA-LINEE: Government Set to Link Alitalia With Air France * N E T H E R L A N D S * IMPRESS METAL: S&P Lowers Ratings, Still on Watch Negative * R U S S I A * MEDIA-MOST: Gusinsky May Leave Spain MEDIA-MOST: Russia Investigates Media Magnate * S W I T Z E R L A N D * ISL WORLDWIDE: UEFA to Recover 10 Million Pounds SAIRGROUP: Basel Government Disapproves SAirGroup Accounts SAIRGROUP: Raffles Holdings Bids for Swissotel Properties * U N I T E D K I N G D O M * BIG BEAT: Liquor License Comes Too Late to Save Pub CAMMELL LAIRD: To Bid for Navy Contract CORUS GROUP: Union to Recommend Strike NMT GROUP: Loss Widens to 13.2 Million Pounds ============= B E L G I U M ============= SABENA SA: Sees Internet Sales at 20 Million Euro ------------------------------------------------- Sabena Belgian World Airlines SA expects sales of around 20 million euro in 2001 from bookings made on its Internet site, following an increase to more than 1 million euro in March, a rise of 750% compared to the same month last year, AFX News its April 23 edition said. The website was renewed in Aug 2000 to enable online ticket booking, online check-in and the notification of departure and arrival times via e-mail and SMS. ============= G E R M A N Y ============= NSE SOFTWARE: Appoints Tr'gele as Board Chairman ------------------------------------------------ The supervisory board of NSE Software AG has on Sunday appointed Robert Tr'gele as chairman to the executive board, an April 23 press release from Frankfurt Stock Exchange said. Trogele will assume post on May 1. Together with the other members of the executive board Manfred Schmaderer and Petr Vaclavek, Tr'gele will implement the modified corporate strategy consequently and continue the reorganization measures already initiated. Tr'gele has over twenty years experience in the software industry, mostly in sales and project business. RAVENSBERGER AG: To Apply for Insolvency ---------------------------------------- Ravensberger AG said it plans to file for insolvency proceedings as it is unlikely to be able to repay a short-term operating loan by the end of April, Dow Jones in its April 23 edition reported. The company has failed in its attempts to get new capital from new investors and to institute a restructuring package with current creditors and its majority shareholder. Ravensberger represents a group of companies mainly involved in the development of land and construction and sale of dwelling and apartment houses. TELDAFAX AG: WAXS Bid Collapses ------------------------------- The tender offer to telecommunications company World Access Inc. (WAXS) for TelDaFax AG has collapsed because the company was denied a listing on Frankfurt's stock exchange, the Wall Street Journal in its April 23 report said. World Access, which owns 33% of TelDaFax, will offer to give back the TelDaFax shares that were tendered. The tender offer had been for an additional 37%. ============= I R E L A N D ============= EIRCOM PLC: Asks Court to Quash Meridian Ruling ----------------------------------------------- Eircell will ask the High Court today to lift an order preventing it from ending a mobile phone supply service to 20,000 customers of Meridian Communications Ltd, which trades as Imagine, according to The Irish Times in its April 24 report. Justice Herbert granted an interim injunction to Meridian on Friday. The injunction, returned on Monday, also prevented Eircell from presenting a petition to the court to wind up Meridian without the court's permission. At Friday's hearing, Meridian chairman Sean Bolger alleged that Eircell was attempting to destroy the business by terminating service supply to Meridian, which would mean that its customers would lose the use of their mobile phones. EIRCOM PLC: O'Brien Seeks Support From Eircom --------------------------------------------- eIsland chief executive Denis O'Brien urged the management and staff of Eircom to support his move to acquire the company ahead of a rival offer by a consortium chaired by Sir Anthony O'Reilly, The Irish Times reported yesterday. According to O'Brien, eIsland's interest in Eircom was for the long term and Irish-led, while his rival's consortium as financially oriented with just a three-year time horizon. The Eircom Employee Share Ownership Programme (ESOP) Trustee, which owns 15% of the company on behalf of staff, told O'Brien that it would support his bid only if it was allowed increase its shareholding. EIRCOM PLC: O'Reilly Close to Winning Control of Eircom ------------------------------------------------------- Businessman Anthony O'Reilly and financier George Soros, working with U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said their consortium appears close to gaining control of telecommunications company Eircom PLC's fixed-line business at an undisclosed amount, the Wall Street Journal in its yesterday's edition reported. Market speculation says the group will make a bid of between 2.6 billion euros and 2.7 billion euros ($2.35 billion to $2.44 billion), topping an earlier bid of 2.4 billion euros from eIsland, a consortium headed by former Esat chairman Denis O'Brien. Leading Eircom shareholders, Dutch firm KPN NV and Swedish operator Telia AB, said they welcome further bids for the fixed- line division. Eircom has already agreed to sell wireless division Eircell to Vodafone Group PLC for about 3.8 billion euros. EIRCOM PLC: Soros Teams With O'Reilly for Eircom Bid ---------------------------------------------------- Billionaire financier George Soros has teamed up with Irish media magnate Sir Anthony O'Reilly to make a bid for telecom firm Eircom, BBC News in its April 23 edition said. The Soros/O'Reilly consortium, which is led by Providence Equity Partners, Warburg Pincus and Soros Private Equity Partners, expects its offer to attract other investors and spark a bidding war for Eircom. The bid is also expected to have competition from Irish entrepreneur Denis O'Brien, who has been trying to buy Eircom for months, and against financier Dermot Desmond's consortium International Investments & Underwriting. ========= I T A L Y ========= ALITALIA-LINEE: French Airline Declines Comment on Tie-up Talk -------------------------------------------------------------- Air France has declined to comment on press reports that it is about to announce the finalization of a long-awaited strategic pact with Alitalia SpA, according to Dow Jones in its April 23 edition. An Air France spokesman made that statement after an Italian Government official was quoted as saying an accord between the two companies was almost complete. The spokesman later confirmed that talks with Alitalia are ongoing, but nothing is signed yet. ALITALIA-LINEE: Government Set to Link Alitalia With Air France --------------------------------------------------------------- Following a failed deal with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, the government looks set to complete link between flagship airline Alitalia SpA and Air France SA in a strategic alliance, Dow Jones reported on Monday. Both Alitalia and Air France said that discussion is ongoing but declined to comment on reports the two airlines are about to announce a strategic alliance. Alitalia added that it is still in talks with KLM and Switzerland's SAirGroup. Meanwhile, Italy's Treasury Minister Vincenzo Visco and Transportation Minister Pierluigi Bersani denied a report from the Financial Times that both airlines have reached an accord or that the signing of such a deal is imminent. Alitalia is 53%-controlled by the Italian Treasury. ===================== N E T H E R L A N D S ===================== IMPRESS METAL: S&P Lowers Ratings, Still on Watch Negative ---------------------------------------------------------- Standard & Poor's on Monday lowered its long-term corporate credit and senior secured debt ratings on packaging company Impress Metal Packaging Holdings B.V. to single-'B'-plus from double-'B'-minus. At the same time, the subordinated debt rating on Impress was lowered to single-'B'-minus from single-'B'. The ratings remain on CreditWatch, where they were placed with negative implications on March 19, 2001. The downgrade reflects continued difficult market conditions for metal packaging, margin erosion in 2000 as a result of higher aluminum and energy prices, and lower average selling prices, restatement of the 1999 operating results, limited availability under liquidity facilities, and limited flexibility within existing bank loan covenants. In 2000, Impress suffered from significant price increases in both raw material (aluminum) and energy (oil and gas). At the same time, continued competitive market conditions made it difficult to negotiate higher selling prices, particularly for players such as Impress that supply large customers with strong pricing power. Nonetheless, selling prices negotiated in 2000 were generally stable. Standard & Poor's will monitor the situation at Impress with regard to covenant compliance and financial flexibility leading up to the seasonal peak in the working capital cycle. =========== R U S S I A =========== MEDIA-MOST: Gusinsky May Leave Spain ------------------------------------ After Russian attempts to have Vladimir Gusinsky extradited failed, the media magnate is totally free to travel, CNN in its April 23 edition reported. Since his arrest on an international warrant in December, Gusinsky has spent most of his time under guard at his villa in Sotogrande, Spain. Spain's High Court on Wednesday turned down Russia's request for Spain to hand over the businessman, saying the alleged fraud offences, where Gusinsky overstated the assets of his Media-Most media empire to win $300 million in loan guarantees, did not represent a crime in Spain. MEDIA-MOST: Russia Investigates Media Magnate --------------------------------------------- Russia has filed a new charge of money laundering against media mogul Vladimir Gusinsky, the Associated Press reported Monday. The report gave no further details, and the Russian prosecutor- general's office could not be reached for comment. Domingo Plazas, Gusinsky's Spanish attorney, said there was no evidence supporting the new charge. Last week, Spain's High Court refused Russia's request to extradite Gusinsky to face fraud charges, saying the actions he is accused of would not amount to a crime in Spain. Russia has accused Gusinsky of misrepresenting the assets of his Media-Most holding company to obtain a $262 million loan from gas monopoly Gazprom. ===================== S W I T Z E R L A N D ===================== ISL WORLDWIDE: UEFA to Recover 10 Million Pounds --------------------------------------------------- The European football governing body UEFA has instructed their lawyers to recover 10 million pounds from the sports marketing agents ISL Worldwide, according to the April 21 edition of The Daily Telegraph. "They owe us money and our lawyers are involved," a UEFA spokesman said. The missing money is UEFA's share of the profits from marketing and sponsorship revenue generated during the European Championships in Holland and Belgium last year. SAIRGROUP: Basel Government Disapproves SAirGroup Accounts ---------------------------------------------------------- The cantonal governments of Basel city and Basel region in Switzerland said they would not approve the accounts of SAirGroup AG, according to the April 23 edition of AFX News. The Swiss federal government and three cantonal governments, all significant shareholders, have indicated they will support the proposal for an extraordinary audit of the company's accounts. SAIRGROUP: Raffles Holding Bids for Swissotel Properties --------------------------------------------------------- Singapore-based Raffles Holdings Ltd. has agreed to buy Swissotel Holding AG for US$242.5 million or 268.6 million euros, the Wall Street Journal in its April 24 edition said. The companies expect the deal to close May 31. With the deal, Raffles will assume 122 million Swiss francs ($72 million or 79.8 million euros) of debt and repay its cash costs through sale of a majority of its interest in the Raffles City development in Singapore. The deal also includes Swissotel's controlling stakes in six European hotels and minority stakes in three others. Credit Suisse First Boston advised SAirGroup, Swissotel's parent, on the hotel sale as a way to free up funds for the airline's flagging operations. Morgan Stanley is Raffles' adviser. =========================== U N I T E D K I N G D O M =========================== BIG BEAT: Liquor License Comes Too Late to Save Pub --------------------------------------------------- A liquor license has been granted nine days too late to save Big Beat Holdings, which recently went into receivership, according to the April 21 report from Aberdeen Press & Journal & World Reporter. Big Beat owns Charlie's, the Cul-de-Sac and the Palm Court Hotel in Aberdeen, and the Cul-de-Sac and Mercantile in Dundee. CAMMELL LAIRD: To Bid for Navy Contract --------------------------------------- Cammell Laird is being allowed to bid to repair Royal Fleet Auxiliary naval ships, according to the April 24 edition of Press Association. The GMB union said that the move follows intervention by Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon, who decided that Cammell should be allowed to join the bidding for the work despite being in receivership. CORUS GROUP: Union to Recommend Strike -------------------------------------- Corus steel workers that were threatened with redundancy are to be balloted on strike action, representing a last-ditch protest at the 6,000 job cuts announced in February by the steelmaker, according to The Observer in its April 22 edition. A strike will cripple Corus's blast furnace operation, which the company relies on for its steel rolling and processing activities at Llanwern in Wales and Corby. It is expected that workers on Teesside will vote for action, but senior ISTC union officials expect Llanwern to reject calls for action. NMT GROUP: Loss Widens to 13.2 Million Pounds --------------------------------------------- The net loss of safety syringes maker NMT Group Plc for the year ended December 31 widened to 13.2 million pounds ($19.1 million), or 8.8 pence a share, compared with 7.1 million, or 12.6p, in the year before, because of manufacturing difficulties and increased costs, Bloomberg in its Monday edition reported. "We have made very substantial progress in resolving the manufacturing challenges which faced NMT. 2001 will be a critical year as we make the transformation to high-volume manufacture," NMT's chief executive Roy Smith said. The company's long term debt as of December 1999 was 1.78 million pounds while total liabilities were 4.34 million pounds. 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. Kimberly MacAdam, 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. 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