/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR

/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR_Public/010914.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, September 14, 2001, Vol. 2, No. 180 Headlines * B E L G I U M * PARAPHANE: Dutch Groups in BFr170MM Takeover Bid * C Z E C H R E P U B L I C * CKD DOPRAVNI: Siemens Buys 60% of CKD for CEK750MM * F R A N C E * MOULINEX SA: Authorities Seek Buyers for Moulinex MOULINEX SA: 550 Employees in Technical Unemployment * G E R M A N Y * BRINKMANN: Management Buyout Will Save Retailer PETERS & THIEDING: Appoints Insolvency Administrator * G R E E C E * OLYMPIC AIRWAYS: CSFB to Continue Talks With Axon * H U N G A R Y * MOL RT.: Sells Telecom Unit to Raise Cash * I T A L Y * ALITALIA-LINEE: Suspends US, Canada and Middle East Flights ALITALIA-LINEE: Widens First-Half Loss to ITL503BB * N E T H E R L A N D S * TOOLEX: Files for Insolvency of Swedish Subsidiary * N O R W A Y * BROADBAND MOBILE: UMTS License Can Be Resold * P O L A N D * DAEWOO-FSO: Shareholders Say Operation Shall Continue SENDZIMIRA: Files for Bankruptcy Protection * S W E D E N * ADCORE AB: Approves Bond Issue LM ERICSSON: Negative Cash Flow Threatens Ericsson * S W I T Z E R L A N D * SWISSAIR GROUP: Cancels Flights to the US and Middle East * U N I T E D K I N G D O M * BALTIMORE TECHNOLOGIES: Surfcontrol May Bid for Baltimore Unit BARINGS: Ernst & Young Resigns as Liquidator DANKA BUSINESS: To Sell Properties in the U.S. EQUITABLE LIFE: Raises Exit Penalty HATFIELD COLLIERY: Authorities Name Hatfield Buyer MARCONI PLC: Bonham Plans Management Overhaul MARCONI PLC: Lord Simpson in Talks With Bonham Over Payoff MARKS & SPENCER: Buys Own Shares ============= B E L G I U M ============= PARAPHANE: Dutch Groups in BFr170MM Takeover Bid ------------------------------------------------ Dutch group M&M and Dutch investment company Storm International Investments has offered BFr170 million for Belgian packaging producer Paraphane, De Financieel Ekonomische Tijd/FT Information reported on Monday. After the takeover, Paraphane will be renamed NV Paraphane Plus. The company will stay in Ninove, together with its 60 employees. Paraphane, which was declared insolvent on June 8, generated annual turnover of 500 million euros and hopes to increase this to 800 million euros next year. =========================== C Z E C H R E P U B L I C =========================== CKD DOPRAVNI: Siemens Buys 60% of CKD for CEK750MM -------------------------------------------------- German industrial giant Siemens will purchase this month the remaining 60% bankruptcy assets of Prague-based railway car manufacturer CKD Dopravni systemy (CKDDS) for CEK750 million, the September 6 edition of Access Czech Republic Business Bulletin said. Under the agreement, CKD will cooperate on Siemens' latest orders, including the construction of a magnetic rail line in China, and the supplies of 1,200 commuter trains worth 2.5 billion euros to England and of high-speed trains to Spain. CKDDS' bankruptcy administrator is Petr Dostal. =========== F R A N C E =========== MOULINEX SA: Authorities Seek Buyers for Moulinex ------------------------------------------------- The public authorities are determined to find one or more buyers to buy French appliance maker Moulinex, the September 12 edition of Liberation/FT Information reported. A list of candidates has been drawn up. US giant General Electric may be interested to take over all of the group's assets or just concentrate on the washing machine activities of Brandt. Whirlpool and Siemens are also possible candidates. The commercial court of Nanterre has put Moulinex SA in receivership for six months after the company filed for bankruptcy for its Moulinex and Brandt operations and subsidiaries on September 7. Lawyers Didier Segard and Francisque Gay were appointed as receivers to assess Moulinex operations and find ways to rescue the troubled company. MOULINEX SA: 550 Employees in Technical Unemployment ---------------------------------------------------- Some 550 of the 900 employees of Moulinex subsidiary, the Brandt Cooking factory in Loiret City, is facing technical unemployment from September 11 until the end of the week, the Wednesday edition of Le Monde/FT Information said. The said employees cannot do anything since the suppliers, which have not been paid since Moulinex's application for liquidation, have stopped their deliveries to the factory. ============= G E R M A N Y ============= BRINKMANN: Management Buyout Will Save Retailer ----------------------------------------------- Reports say that the ailing Hamburg-based retailer Brinkmann, which has been looking for potential investors for several months, will be saved from insolvency by a management buy-out. According to the Monday edition of Die Welt & World Reporter, Peter von le Fort, general agent of the insolvent trustee Burkhardt Beimer, has allegedly proposed that the managers of Brinkmann will invest at least DM100,000 each in the company's loss-making operations. PETERS & THIEDING: Appoints Insolvency Administrator ---------------------------------------------------- Lawyer Jens-Soren Schroeder, according to the Monday edition to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, has been appointed insolvency administrator of energy equipment supplier Hochspannungstechnik Peters & Thieding GmbH. The company, located at Wentor, near Hamburg, filed to start insolvency proceedings on September 4. Schroeder believes 130 jobs at the company will be saved. =========== G R E E C E =========== OLYMPIC AIRWAYS: CSFB to Continue Talks With Axon ------------------------------------------------- Credit Suisse First Boston will continue negotiations with Greece's Axon Airlines, which is bidding for a majority stake in Olympic Airways, the Wednesday edition of Dow Jones Newswires reported. CSFB is advising the Greek government on the privatization of Olympic Airways. Public unions has opposed to the privatization of the airline. The unions representing employees of Olympic Airways said they have called for a 24-hour strike on September 19 to protest the government's plans for the national air carrier. The strike would be another blow to the already cash-strapped airline that has debts of around 120 million euros and believed to be still increasing. ============= H U N G A R Y ============= MOL RT.: Sells Telecom Unit to Raise Cash ----------------------------------------- Hungary's debt-laden oil and gas company MOL Rt. sold its telecommunications arm MolTelecom Rt. to Hungarian telecom company PanTel Rt., a unit of Dutch telecom company Royal KPN NV, for an undisclosed sum, the Wednesday edition of Dow Jones Newswires said. The company is still talking to buyers for its gas division, which according to MOL executive chairman Zsolt Hernadi was expected to suffer a loss in excess of 120 billion forints this year, resulting from the government's price-fixing system. MOL has hired investment bank Schroeder Salomon Smith Barney to prepare the operations for sale, but so far there has not been any buyer. MOL's gas and power division reported a net loss of 78.4 billion forints in the first six months of the year, pushing the whole group's first quarter result into a net loss of 4.7 billion forints. ========= I T A L Y ========= ALITALIA-LINEE: Suspends US, Canada and Middle East Flights ----------------------------------------------------------- All of Alitalia SpA's flights to the United States and Canada on Wednesday have been canceled after the series of terrorist attacks in New York and elsewhere in the U.S. As a precautionary measure, direct services to Egypt, Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Iran were also cancelled. Alitalia flights in Italy and other intercontinental flights remain unaffected. The U.S. has closed its airspace and all airports after the attacks. ALITALIA-LINEE: Widens First-Half Loss to ITL503BB -------------------------------------------------- Italy's national airline Alitalia widened its first-half net loss to ITL503 billion, from a net loss of ITL352 billion in the same period last year, according to Dow Jones Newswires' Wednesday report. Losses before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were ITL100 billion compared with losses of ITL134 billion, while pretax losses were ITL349 billion compared with losses of ITL354 billion. Alitalia blamed its unfavorable results on the slowdown in the world economy, political crisis in the Middle East, and consistently elevated petrol prices. ===================== N E T H E R L A N D S ===================== TOOLEX: Files for Insolvency of Swedish Subsidiary -------------------------------------------------- Toolex has filed for insolvency for Toolex Alpha after takeover talks for the Swedish subsidiary failed, Het Financieele Dagblad/FT Information reported on Tuesday. The ailing Dutch manufacturer of systems for the replication of optical discs was forced to request suspension of payment for the entire group. Toolex will concentrate its activities in one location in the Netherlands, the report added. =========== N O R W A Y =========== BROADBAND MOBILE: UMTS License Can Be Resold -------------------------------------------- Broadband Mobile's UMTS license, according to the Monday edition of Dagens Naeringsliv, could be withdrawn by the Norwegian ministry of communication and re-sold. Swedish third generation mobile network group Hi3G, partly owned by Investor of Sweden and Hong Kong-based Hutchinson Whampoa, said it is not interested to acquire the license from Broadband Mobile, as the companies failed to agree on the terms. Hi3G added it might still want to make a bid if the ministry withdraws the license from Broadband Mobile. The Norwegian 3G company went bankrupt at the beginning of August. It was owned by Finland's Sonera of and Norway's Enitel, but their cooperation fell apart as the company generated major losses. =========== P O L A N D =========== DAEWOO-FSO: Shareholders Say Operation Shall Continue ----------------------------------------------------- Shareholders of Daewoo-FSO has decided that the Warsaw-based automaker should continue operating and that the management should call another meeting to consider increasing the company's capital, the Warsaw Business Journal reported on Monday. No decision on additional funding can be made before Daewoo-FSO has met a number of conditions, including the restructuring of a $160 million debt to Polish banks. The Polish government and workers at Daewoo-FSO are also concerned about the plant's fate that was in question even before Daewoo was put under court receivership in November. SENDZIMIRA: Files for Bankruptcy Protection ------------------------------------------- Poland's communist-era steel mill Nowa Huta, now called Sendzimira, has filed for bankruptcy protection because it cannot handle loan payments of 1.4 billion zlotys, the Agence France- Presse reported on Monday. The bankruptcy, if confirmed by a court later this month, could complicate the government's plans to merge the Sendzimira and three other mills (Katowice, Florian and Cedler) into one group and sell it to a foreign company. Potential buyers are India's Ispat, LNM Holdings NV, and a European consortium comprised of Germany's ThyssenKrupp, France's Usinor and Luxembourg's Arbed. Sendzimira is located at Krakow City in the southern part of Poland. Contact General Director & CEO Jerzy Knapik at telephone number +48 12 448866, 444666, 449500 or fax +48 12 447496 for further information. =========== S W E D E N =========== ADCORE AB: Approves Bond Issue ------------------------------ Swedish Internet consultancy firm Adcore said on Wednesday it has unanimously approved the Board's decision regarding the issue of a debenture combined with 4,000,000 detachable warrants. Each warrant confers the rights to subscribe in the company for one new share at a price of 1.44 Swedish kronor. Net Equity Holding BV has subscribed the issue of the debenture with detachable warrants for 25 million Swedish kronor. Adcore earlier said it would raise 175 million Swedish kronor through a share issue, after it recorded losses of 1.9 billion Swedish kronor in the first half of 2001. See http://bankrupt.com/misc/adcore1.pdfthe company's financial report. LM ERICSSON: Negative Cash Flow Threatens Ericsson -------------------------------------------------- The cash flow of mobile infrastructure leader Ericsson LM is back in negative territory, according to the Dow Jones Newswires on Wednesday, citing a report from Dagens Industri. The newspaper quoted the internal company memo from Ericsson's financial official Vidar Mohammar, as warning the company to monitor payables and other liabilities and push payments into October as much as possible. Earlier this month, the Troubled Company Reporter Europe reported that Ericsson's shares went down 16.1%, or 80 cents, after the company warned that conditions in its mobile systems market appear to be worsening. Ericsson also disclosed in July that it was reviewing non-core operations for possible divestment to bolster its balance sheet and help it maintain profitability. ===================== S W I T Z E R L A N D ===================== SWISSAIR GROUP: Cancels Flights to the US and Middle East --------------------------------------------------------- Troubled Swiss aviation group Swissair has cancelled all its flights on Wednesday for the USA and the Middle East. All 14 North Atlantic flights were affected, including two flights to New York, one in San Francisco, Newark and Boston, along with two flights to Tel Aviv and one to Beirut. The cancellation of flights was prompted by Tuesday's terrorist attacks in the U.S. =========================== U N I T E D K I N G D O M =========================== BALTIMORE TECHNOLOGIES: Surfcontrol May Bid for Baltimore Unit -------------------------------------------------------------- SurfControl chief executive Steve Purdham said his company might bid for Content Technologies, The Irish Times reported on Wednesday. The content management arm of Baltimore Technologies, which it bought in October for 692 million pounds, was recently put on sale as part of a radical restructuring plan. A Baltimore spokeswoman would not confirm or deny whether the U.K.-based Internet security firm had contacted the firm for information. She said several firms had expressed an interest in the unit since Baltimore said it was for sale last month. Other aspects of Baltimore's restructuring include a further 220 job cuts to save 72 million pounds annually. BARINGS: Ernst & Young Resigns as Liquidator -------------------------------------------- Ernst & Young has resigned from its five-year role as liquidator of Barings Bank, Independent News reported yesterday. The work will be taken on by KPMG, which confirmed that it would go ahead with a court case against the bank's former auditors Deloitte & Touche and Coopers & Lybrand in October. E&Y decided to resign because all of the creditors were dissatisfied with the firm. Creditors believed that they can extract more compensation from Deloitte's and Coopers through a new liquidator, KPMG. Coopers & Lybrand, which merged with Price Waterhouse in 1998 to create PricewaterhouseCoopers, was auditor to the Barings Group in London, and succeeded Deloitte as auditor to Barings Future Singapore in 1994. Barings collapsed in 1995 after trader Nick Leeson incurred 830- million-pound of losses from unauthorized trading. DANKA BUSINESS: To Sell Properties in the U.S. ---------------------------------------------- Danka Business Systems, PLC on Tuesday said that its wholly owned subsidiary Danka Holding Company has entered into Purchase and Sale Agreements to sell its real estate properties in Port Washington, New York, and Las Vegas, Nevada to reduce debt obligations to its lenders on the properties. Danka anticipates closing the $3.35-million-transaction by the end of October. Earlier this month, the Troubled Company Reporter Europe said that Danka Business sold the outstanding capital stock of Danka Holding Company's subsidiary Ameritrend Corporation to Method Products Corp. Danka Business Systems has headquarters in London, England, and St. Petersburg, Florida. It is one of the world's largest independent suppliers of office imaging equipment and related services, parts and supplies. The company provides office products and services in 30 countries around the world. EQUITABLE LIFE: Raises Exit Penalty ----------------------------------- The Board of troubled assurer Equitable Life on Wednesday has increased the exit penalty for policyholders wanting to withdraw their money from 7.5% to 10%. "World stock markets are unstable as a result of yesterday's tragedies. The UK stock market has fallen significantly since the financial adjustment was set at 7.5% in July. It is essential that those surrendering their policies do not take more than their fair share of the fund. We have therefore changed the financial adjustment to reflect the recent market falls," Chief Executive Charles Thomson said. The new rate will apply to all non-contractual terminations of policies. The financial adjustment does not apply to contractual terminations such as where a policy is maturing or a policyholder is retiring and taking benefits. In July, with-profits policyholders were also told that the value of their funds was being cut by 16%. Equitable has been forced to take drastic action because it is facing a huge bill from guaranteed annuity rate pensions it sold in the past. For further information on the matter, one may contact Equitable Life's Alistair Dunbar at 020 7710 3772 HATFIELD COLLIERY: Authorities Name Hatfield Buyer -------------------------------------------------- The Coal Authority has named Richard Budge as the potential rescuer of the struggling South Yorkshire mine Hatfield Colliery, the Wednesday edition of BBC News said. The authority will maintain the mine until October 5 to give Budge, formerly chief executive of RJB Mining, time to complete the purchase and to put in place funding and management. Hatfield Colliery's operator Hatfield Coal Company closed the pit on August 9 on advice from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Coal Authority. The Hatfield pit near Doncaster, which employed 223 people, has been facing the axe since going into liquidation. It also received 200,000 pounds in the past month from the DTI. MARCONI PLC: Bonham Plans Management Overhaul --------------------------------------------- One week into his new post as interim chairman of the troubled telecoms equipment maker Marconi, Derek Bonham made up his own mind and plans for an overhaul of the company's non-executives, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. There have been doubts on the role of the company's non- executives, whether they could have done more to keep Marconi stable and should they have communicated any concerns to the market. Many of the non-executives were specially selected by Lord Simpson. Some are drawn from companies that have close relations with Marconi. Baroness Dunn is deputy chairman of HSBC Holding, one of Marconi's leading lenders. Sir Alan Rudge was deputy chief executive of British Telecom, one of Marconi's largest customers. The other non-executives are former US ambassador to London Raymond Seitz, Amersham chief executive Sir Bill Castell, and former Reed International chairman and London Stock Exchange director Nigel Stapleton. Bonham took the lead in ousting former chief executive Lord Simpson and Sir Roger on warning that losses could reach 5 billion pounds this year and that Marconi would further axe 2,000 jobs. MARCONI PLC: Lord Simpson in Talks With Bonham Over Payoff ---------------------------------------------------------- Lord George Simpson, the ousted chief executive of Marconi, is believed to have held preliminary talks with the new chairman Derek Bonham about whether he will receive a 1-million-pound payoff, according to the Financial Times' Tuesday report. Lord Simpson is entitled to about 1.2 million pounds paid into a funded unapproved retirement benefit scheme since 1997. However, Marconi is believed to be reluctant to give it to him. Sir Roger Hurn, who was also ousted as chairman together with Lord Simpson, has already indicated that he will waive the 300,000 pounds to which he is entitled. The pay-offs issue to ousted Marconi directors has angered many of Marconi's big shareholders. The Association of British Insurers do not think that companies should break a promise on contracts. MARKS & SPENCER: Buys Own Shares -------------------------------- Troubled retailer Marks & Spencer has purchased for cancellation 2,000,000 of its ordinary shares from Cazenove & Co. Ltd for 251.5162p per share, Reuters reported on Monday. For inquiries, one may get in touch with M&S' Tony Quinlan at 020 7268 4195 or Duncan Hunter of Cazenove & Co. Ltd at 020 7588 2828 ************ 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 Ma. Lourdes Reyes, 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. * * * End of Transmission * * *