/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR

/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR_Public/010917.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 Monday, September 17, 2001, Vol. 2, No. 181 Headlines * B E L G I U M * SABENA SA: Cancels Six New York Flights SABENA SA: E.U. to Launch Probe on Government Aid * G E R M A N Y * BAYER AG: Names Wenning as New CEO CEWE COLOUR: To Close Laboratory in West Germany KABEL MEDIA: Authorities Search Kabel Offices MARCHFIRST: Completes Restructuring * I R E L A N D * EIRCOM PLC: Receives Interest Notice * N E T H E R L A N D S * KPN NV: Secures 2.5BB-Euro Loan KPN NV: To Finalize Cost-Sharing Deal With Telefonica Moviles LYCOS EUROPE: Cuts 300 Jobs * S P A I N * JAZZTEL PLC: Shares Climb 10% After Bond Buyback * S W I T Z E R L A N D * 4M TECHNOLOGIES: Posts First-Half Loss of CHF18.9MM CARRIER1 INTERNATIONAL: ProStream Becomes Fully-Owned Unit SWISSAIR GROUP: Resumes U.S. Flights SWISSAIR GROUP: Shares Drop at CHF60 * U N I T E D K I N G D O M * ARC INTERNATIONAL: Fires Chief Terwilliger ARC INTERNATIONAL: Unfavorable Market Conditions Continues BALTIMORE TECHNOLOGIES: Shares Surge by 36% GLOBALNET FINANCIAL: NewMedia Extends Offer Period INDEPENDENT INSURANCE: Bright Trustee Appointed SCOOT.COM: Posts First-Half Loss of 171.6MM Pounds SCOOT.COM: Up for Sale SUGARONLINE: Enters Into Liquidation ============= B E L G I U M ============= SABENA SA: Cancels Six New York Flights --------------------------------------- Belgium's national airline Sabena has canceled six flights to New York and one to Montreal following the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on Tuesday, according to Dow Jones Newswires' Thursday report. Flights to Israel and Lebanon have resumed after they were canceled on Wednesday. SABENA SA: E.U. to Launch Probe on Government Aid ------------------------------------------------- E.U. Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio said that they would open a formal probe into the Belgian government's financial aid of Sabena SA if Belgium does not provide an explanation soon, Dow Jones Newswires reported on Thursday. The 20-member Commission, E.U.'s executive arm, postponed in July a decision on the probe following an agreement reached between Swissair Group and the Belgian government over the funding of loss-making Sabena. Under the agreement, Swissair will provide 60%, while the Belgian government 40% of a joint cash injection to Sabena of 430 million euros. In exchange, Swissair will be freed from its obligation to raise its stake in Sabena to 85% from 49.5% and will not have to provide further funding to the Belgian carrier. Both shareholders agreed to the 250-million-euro recapitalization, in which the Belgian government paid 100 million euros. The recapitalization was completed in February. Analysts said the E.U.'s competition watchdog could consider the Belgian government's 100-million-euro payment in February to be illegal. ============= G E R M A N Y ============= BAYER AG: Names Wenning as New CEO ---------------------------------- Bayer AG's chief financial officer Werner Wenning will succeed Manfred Schneider as chief executive officer of the German chemical giant in April, according to the Thursday edition of Associated Press. Bayer said Schneider has long planned for his departure. Last month, Bayer voluntarily withdrew its anti-cholesterol drug Baycol after it was linked to more than 50 deaths worldwide. The withdrawal raised the possibility that the German company might sell its pharmaceuticals business, a move that Schneider has resisted. The company has previously said it would consider a joint venture with another firm. CEWE COLOUR: To Close Laboratory in West Germany ------------------------------------------------ Photographic laboratory operator Cewe Colour AG, acquired a year ago when it filed for insolvency, will cease its operations in Neu-Ulm, West Germany, the September 12 edition of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said. Production will be moved to Germering near Munich since it is too small to continue. The 40 people employed in Neu-Ulm will be offered other jobs with Cewe. KABEL MEDIA: Authorities Search Kabel Offices --------------------------------------------- A public prosecutor's office and staff of a regional criminal investigation office have raided the offices and private accommodation of two board members of the ailing Hamburg-based Internet company Kabel New Media, according to the Thursday report of Suddeutsche Zeitung & World Reporter. Former chief executive Peter Kabel, who resigned at the end of August, and finance director Fritz Mathys, are in question on suspicions of a breach of stock market and trading regulations. Kabel New Media has begun its insolvency proceeding on September 1. Bankruptcy proceedings were also initiated on the same day for its Kabel New Media Hamburg GmbH, Kabel New Media Berlin GmbH, Kabel New Media M］chen GmbH, Kabel New Media Bonn GmbH and Kabel New Media Friedrichshafen GmbH units. MARCHFIRST: Completes Restructuring ----------------------------------- Internet company Marchfirst has completed its restructuring, four months after it filed for insolvency, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported on Thursday. According to company lawyer Joern Weitzmann, operations will be concentrated in the Munich and Hamburg branches, while offices in Chemnitz, Duesseldorf, Frankfurt and Amsterdam have been closed. Marchfirst was forced to file for insolvency after its US parent company was dismantled and liquidated after filing for insolvency. ============= I R E L A N D ============= EIRCOM PLC: Receives Interest Notice ------------------------------------ PRNewswire, September 13 Eircom announces that it has received notification of interests as follows: "We hereby give you notice, pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 2, Part IV of the Companies Act, 1990, of the acquisition by Deutsche Bank AG and its subsidiaries of a notifiable interest in shares comprised in the relevant share capital of eircom plc. To our knowledge, the number of such shares in which Deutsche Bank was interested immediately after the time when the obligation to provide this notice arose was 173,645,236. The date on which this obligation arose was September 10, 2001. The obligation arose by virtue of a change of the percentage level of the notifiable interest of Deutsche Bank. So far, as known to us on the date this notification is provided, the identity of each of the registered holders of the shares to which this notification relates, and the number of such shares held by each such registered holder, are detailed in the attached Schedule." Registered Holders No. of Shares Morgan Grenfell & Company Limited 4,390,000 Deutsche Bank AG London 162,957,776 Deutsche Bank AG Frankfurt 27,600 Deutsche Bank Alex Brown Inc 5,600 Deutsche Asset Management Investmentgesellschaft mbH 200,000 Morgan Nominees 60,468 Taunus Corporation 6,003,792 Total 173,645,236 Contact Eric Crowley, eircom plc's Head of Investor Relations at +353-1-701-5433 Web site: http://ir.eircom.ie ===================== N E T H E R L A N D S ===================== KPN NV: Secures 2.5BB-Euro Loan ------------------------------- KPN has secured a new 2.5-billion-euro syndicated loan that will ease the pressure on its finances following the failed merger with Belgacom, Reuters reported last week. ABN-AMRO, Bank of America, ING, Rabobank, Citibank, JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse First Boston have underwritten 300 million euros each for the Dutch telecommunications company. The loan will replace all KPN's existing bank debt and will give the company several years of liquidity, the report added. KPN NV: To Finalize Cost-Sharing Deal With Telefonica Moviles ------------------------------------------------------------- Negotiations between Dutch telecommunications company Royal KPN NV and Spain's Telefonica Moviles SA on a cost-sharing deal to build and roll out a third-generation, or 3G, mobile phone network in Germany are in its final stages. In a report dated September 13, Dow Jones Newswires said that Telefonica has signed a memorandum of understanding with KPN's German unit, E-Plus, on the deal. Company spokesman Bram Oudshoorn said the Dutch carrier is still in talks with other companies to reach similar deals on 3G cost- sharing in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. LYCOS EUROPE: Cuts 300 Jobs --------------------------- Lycos Europe is cutting 300 jobs, almost a quarter of its workforce, in a restructuring aimed at improving profitability, the Thursday edition of The Guardian & World Reporter said. The Dutch online media company said the move was aimed at reducing its losses before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization to 10 million to 15 million in the second quarter in 2002, from losses of about 40 million in the same quarter this year. It added it would reduce its dependency on advertising revenues and generate more income from e-commerce. ========= S P A I N ========= JAZZTEL PLC: Shares Climb 10% After Bond Buyback ------------------------------------------------ Shares in Jazztel rose 10% on Thursday after the Spanish high- speed network operator said it had bought back 113 million euros worth of bonds for 36.9 million euros, the Financial Times reported. The company has decided to utilize some of its scarce cash reserves to buy back 13.5% of its outstanding high-yield debt at a large discount. With the buyback, the company is fully funded by more than 10 million euros. The telecommunication company posted a second quarter net loss of 68.08 million euros in July, compared with a loss of 62.38 million euros in the first quarter of this year and a loss of 50.97 million euros in the second quarter of 2000. Standard & Poor's in June lowered its ratings on the company's senior unsecured notes to triple-'C'. ===================== S W I T Z E R L A N D ===================== 4M TECHNOLOGIES: Posts First-Half Loss of CHF18.9MM --------------------------------------------------- 4M Technologies, one of the world-leading manufacturer of production systems for optical discs, has posted a net consolidated loss of CHF18.9 million at the end of June 2001 (refer to http://bankrupt.com/misc/4m_technologies.pdffor the company's financial statement). In a report dated September 13, the Irish Times said that the lack of sufficient working capital financing and a lack of support from the banks lead to delays in delivery and in extreme cases, to the unfortunate cancellation of orders. This resulted in a drop in net sales to CHF19.9 million during the period, compared to CHF84.8 million for the first half-year of last year. The Times added that 4M Technologies has decided to widen the group's restructuring program to all its entities to deepen the cost-cutting, including the elimination of 28 work positions at the end of August. CARRIER1 INTERNATIONAL: ProStream Becomes Fully-Owned Unit ---------------------------------------------------------- Carrier1 International S.A., a Pan-European provider of end-to- end Internet, voice, bandwidth, data center and access solutions, and Net Insight, a vendor of advanced real-time broadband technology, have on Thursday signed an agreement to let their joint venture, ProStream, become a fully integrated business unit of Carrier1. ProStream was formed in February this year to address the market for professional video services to TV- and production companies around Europe. Early this month, Standard & Poor's lowered the long-term corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings of Carrier1 to triple-'C' from single-'B'-minus. The rating action reflects the company's third consecutive quarter of weakening operating performance, higher-than expected cash burn rate, limited financial flexibility, and strong strategic uncertainties following the departure of the company's former chief executive officer. For media and investor information, please contact Nicole Blanchard, Carrier1's Vice President for Corporate Communications and Investor Relations at nicole.blanchard@carrier1.com or telephone +41 1 297 2605 SWISSAIR GROUP: Resumes U.S. Flights ------------------------------------ Swissair said the aviation group has flown back to its destinations in New York, San Francisco and Newark on Thursday. Scheduled Swissair services to and from Tel Aviv have also been resumed. However, flights from Zurich to Tripoli, Benghazi and Beirut have been cancelled for security reasons. The troubled Swiss company added that two of its four aircrafts, which have been grounded in Canada since Tuesday, are now en route back to Zurich. The two remaining aircraft are still awaiting permission to leave. The cancellation of flights was prompted by Tuesday's terrorist attacks in the U.S. SWISSAIR GROUP: Shares Drop at CHF60 ------------------------------------ Shares of troubled airline Swissair AG plunged CHF5.85, or 8.7%, at CHF61.50 on Thursday, following the terrorist attacks on the U.S., the Thursday edition of Dow Jones Newswires said. According to Zuercher Kantonalbank analyst Patrick Schwendimann, the airline sector is the most seriously affected after the tragedy, as people will avoid flying for a while. Bank Sarasin analyst Britta Simon added that the attacks have made Swissair's task of improving its operating performance more difficult. Swissair, which posted a 2001 first-half loss of CHF234 million (see http://bankrupt.com/misc/swissair1.pdffor the group's consolidated income statement), wanted to reduce its net debt to CHF5.5 billion by the end of 2002. =========================== U N I T E D K I N G D O M =========================== ARC INTERNATIONAL: Fires Chief Terwilliger ------------------------------------------ ARC International plc, a leading designer and developer of customizable, high-performance microprocessors and related intellectual property solutions, on Thursday fired its chief executive officer and company director Bob Terwilliger. John Stockton, having extensive experience in senior operational management positions in a number of semiconductor companies, has assumed the role of interim Chief Executive Officer. Stockton became a non-executive director of ARC in December 1999 and chairman of the company in March 2000. From 1992 to 1996, he was chairman, president and chief executive officer of Tamarack Storage Devices, Inc. Subsequently, he was involved in the formation of Simages and was a cofounder and part-time chief technology officer of sVISION, Inc. Stockton has also held the positions of Chief Executive Officer of CRISC (now Stream Machine), Chief Executive Officer of Synergy Semiconductor Inc., and has provided consulting services to MCC, the Mayfield Fund and VLSI Technology, Inc. ARC International has initiated a search for a new CEO. Jan Tufvesson, who is currently a non-executive director, has been appointed non-executive chairman. ARC INTERNATIONAL: Unfavorable Market Conditions Continues ---------------------------------------------------------- Silicon chip designer ARC International, located in Elstree, England, said on Thursday that difficult market conditions have continued during the third quarter of 2001 and that market interest remains high. The loss-making group added it expected turnover for the third quarter ending September 30 to be less than 2 million pounds (see http://bankrupt.com/misc/arc_intl.docfor the company's first- half interim results). ARC International has already implemented its cost reduction program that included the reduction of staff numbers. BALTIMORE TECHNOLOGIES: Shares Surge by 36% ------------------------------------------- Shares in Internet security group Baltimore Technologies plc jumped 36% to 19 pence on Wednesday after the company said it had received several approaches for its Content Technologies business, according to the September 13 edition of The Irish Times. The stock was already up 18% on the report of SurfControl's possible bid. Britain's SurfControl said it was considering a bid for Content, which Baltimore put on sale last month as part of a radical restructuring plan. GLOBALNET FINANCIAL: NewMedia Extends Offer Period -------------------------------------------------- British Internet investor NewMedia SPARK PLC has extended the offer period in connection with the cash tender offer for GlobalNet Financial.com Inc until September 21 in the wake of the U.S. attacks early last week, AFX News reported on Thursday. The offer was originally extended until September 12. The Troubled Company Reporter Europe said last month that NewMedia Spark was expected to win its $11.3 million battle for control of the financial information website over rival Italian Internet software company AISoftware. GlobalNet said it would soon run out of cash. It has already sold or closed many of its financial websites and laid off much of its workforce in Europe. INDEPENDENT INSURANCE: Bright Trustee Appointed ----------------------------------------------- Philip Sykes of accountants Moore Stephens has been appointed bankruptcy trustee for former Independent Insurance chief executive Michael Bright, the Daily Telegraph reported on Friday. Bright was legally declared bankrupt in August as he was unable to pay his debts. Independent Insurance has been in the hands of provisional liquidators PricewaterhouseCoopers since June. Its collapse is the subject of investigations by the Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Services Authority. SCOOT.COM: Posts First-Half Loss of 171.6MM Pounds -------------------------------------------------- Scoot.com on September 12 unveiled pre-tax losses of 171.6 million pounds for the six months ended June 30, compared to a loss of 15.6 million pounds in the same period last year (refer to http://bankrupt.com/misc/scoot_interim.docfor the company's first-half financial report). The online directory company stressed the need to find a partner or buyer to ensure the long-term viability of its remaining online directory business. Scoot added its directors would continue to pursue opportunities to increase revenues and reduce costs. For further information, contact Richard Darby/Suzanne Dunne at telephone +44 207 466 5000 or Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance's Robin Binks at telephone +44 20 7936 3000 SCOOT.COM: Up for Sale ---------------------- Stricken U.K. online directory Scoot.com said on Wednesday it has sent to shareholders a circular containing details of the disposal of its Loot business and the interest in B&S Limited to DMG Niche Publications Limited for approximately 45 million pounds. The company will use the raised 10.6 million pounds to repay the bridge financing facility including interest, while the 17.6 million pounds to redeem the outstanding convertible debentures and terminate the equity line agreement. The balance of approximately 14.6 million pounds will be available to meet the settlement costs in relation to the termination of the Scoot Europe joint venture with Vivendi Universal S.A. SUGARONLINE: Enters Into Liquidation ------------------------------------ Shareholders of sugar industry portal Sugaronline have favor for the company to go into voluntary liquidation, the Scotsman newspaper reported on Thursday. Liquidators Chantrey Vellacott DFK will look for buyers to invest in the company or of individual assets. Sugaronline, at www.sugaronline.com, is owned by British-based Commodity Systems (CSL) and is controlled by private investors. *********** 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 * * *