/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR

/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR_Public/011121.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, November 21, 2001, Vol. 2, No. 228 Headlines * B E L G I U M * LERNOUT & HAUSPIE: Management Team Buys Kurzweil Group SABENA SA: Receivers Launch Sale of Units XEIKON NV: Company Profile * F R A N C E * AIR LIBERTE: Air France Promise of Jobs Freezes BULL SA: Shares Surge After Lifting of Suspension * G E R M A N Y * ADVANCED MEDIEN: Loss Widens to 10MM Euro DEUTSCHE TELEKOM: Faces DSL Probe MAN AG: Seeks SHW Buyer TEAMWORK INFORMATION: To Complete Restructuring Soon * I R E L A N D * EIRCOM PLC: Receives Notification of Interests EIRCOM PLC: Valentia Replaces Eircom Board * I T A L Y * ALITALIA SPA: Government Agrees to Cash Injection * N O R W A Y * KVAERNER ASA: Shares Surge After Rescue Plan Approval KVAERNER ASA: Shares Suspended in Oslo KVAERNER ASA: Will Keep Philadelphia Shipyard * S W E D E N * ADERA AB: Posts Third-Quarter EBITA Loss of SEK28MM ADERA AB: Shuts Down Stockholm Office ADERA AB: To Sell Nucleus Ltd LM ERICSSON: Sells Cable Modem Business in U.S. * S W I T Z E R L A N D * 4M TECHNOLOGIES: Delays Publication of Third-Quarter Result SWISSAIR GROUP: Crossair Meets Swissair Employees * U N I T E D K I N G D O M * BRITISH TELECOM: Denies Blu Sale Talks BRITISH TELECOM: MMO2 Shares Rise After De-merger CLAIMS DIRECT: Settles With Franchise Managers COLT TELECOM: Gains 7% After Shareholders Back Share Issue JAZZTEL PLC: Denies Takeover Talks With France Telecom MARCONI PLC: Offers $60MM Payouts to Fore Systems Chiefs SCOOT.COM: Narrows Third-Quarter Loss, Cash Remains Scarce ============= B E L G I U M ============= LERNOUT & HAUSPIE: Management Team Buys Kurzweil Group ------------------------------------------------------ The management of the Kurzweil Educational Systems Group of Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products announced Monday that they have purchased the business and assets of the group from L&H. Kurzweil Educational Systems, acquired by L&H in 1998, is the industry's leading developer of innovative reading software for people with learning disabilities, reading difficulties, blindness and low vision. Michael Sokol, who founded Kurzweil Educational Systems in 1996, led the management buyout and will serve in the new company as President and CEO. Technical visionary Ray Kurzweil will be a director of the new entity, while Jerome Elkind as Chairman of the Board. The new company will resume operations under its original name of Kurzweil Educational Systems, Inc. and will remain headquartered in Massachusetts. It will also continue to maintain sales offices in St. Petersburg, Florida and Palo Alto, California along with its United States and international reseller channels of distribution. SABENA SA: Receivers Launch Sale of Units ----------------------------------------- The receivers of Belgian airline Sabena are organizing a roadshow to promote the sale of Sabena divisions. According to the Monday edition of De Standaard/FT Information, business plans are being drawn up and have to be completed within two weeks. The business plans will contain information on the number of customers and its suppliers, the personnel status and labor agreements, and the type of transfer after bankruptcy. LSG Sky Chefs (Lufthansa) has been tipped as buyer of the Sabena catering division, while TUI for its independent subsidiary Sobelair. XEIKON NV: Company Profile -------------------------- Name: Xeikon NV Address: Vredebaan 72 2640 Mortsel Belgium Phone: +32 (0) 3 443 1311 Fax: +32 (0) 3 443 1309 Website: http://www.xeikon.com SIC: Digital Printing Equipment Manufacturing No. of Employees: 1060 Net Loss: 20.4 million euro ($18.0 million) Total Assets: 186.2 million euro ($164.3 million) Liabilities: 119.0 million euro ($105.0 million) Outstanding Shares: 30.6 million shares (June 2001) Type of Business: Xeikon NV is engaged in the development, manufacturing and distribution of digital printing products for professional applications. The company's equipments and products are distributed globally directly to original equipment manufacturers like IBM, Xerox and Agfa. Trigger Event: Overall weak economic environment and slow progress in reaching an agreement to raise additional capital has brought Xeikon to request for creditor's protection and take up restructuring measures to meet financial commitments. Xeikon's securities have stopped trading on Nasdaq since November 9. Chairman: Gino Despeghel President & CEO: Alfons Buts Senior VP & CFO: Gerrit Keyaerts Auditor: Arthur Andersen L.L.P. =========== F R A N C E =========== AIR LIBERTE: Air France Promise of Jobs Freezes ----------------------------------------------- Five hundred workers of AOM/Liberte will not be joining Air France, as agreed in August, due to a hiring freeze in the company, reports Dow Jones Newswires. "The jobs freeze applies globally," Air France's economic affairs and finance director Philippe Calavia said. "That means that those we selected from AOM/Air Liberte won't be joining Air France until things improve." The hiring freeze is among a series of measures Air France has adopted in an attempts to weather the market decline that led it to issue a profit warning earlier this month. Other steps include a cut in planned schedule capacity for the winter 2001 season. The restructuring in AOM/Air Liberte preceded a decision by Swiss parent SAirGroup to end funding for the carrier and a management buyout of slimmed-down operations. BULL SA: Shares Surge After Lifting of Suspension ------------------------------------------------- Shares of unprofitable French computer maker Bull SA surged 46 cents, or 46%, to 1.46 euros on Monday's trading after a suspension on its shares was lifted. According to Bloomberg's report, the government, which owns a 16.3% stake in Bull, agreed to lend 100 million euros after reviewing its finances for the fourth quarter and next year. Earlier this year, Bull sold 361 million euros in assets, including its CP8 smart-card unit. ============= G E R M A N Y ============= ADVANCED MEDIEN: Loss Widens to 10MM Euro ----------------------------------------- Film rights company Advanced Medien AG recorded a loss of 10 million euros for the nine months ended September 30, compared with a loss last year of 340,000 euros, Dow Jones Newswires reported Monday. Sales for the nine months also fell to 12.5 million euros from 22.8 million euros last year, the news agency added. Earlier, Advanced Medien said it would terminate its Advanced Filmverleih GmbH business on December as part of an effort to focus on the company's core business, which is the purchase, sale and licensing of motion picture rights. DEUTSCHE TELEKOM: Faces DSL Probe --------------------------------- Deutsche Telekom is facing am investigation into its high-speed DSL Internet connection strategy as it failed to meet demands from the German Regulator for Telecommunications and Post (RegTP) allowing for a liberalization of the market. According to an AFX News report Monday, the German telecommunications group has not delivered competitors the necessary infrastructure products for resale or line sharing. Competitors experience the prices and conditions set out by Deutsche Telekom as "unreasonable" and there is a backlog of some 9,000 unfulfilled orders. Deutsche Telekom recently revealed a 3.1 billion euro ($2.79 billion) loss for the first nine months of the year. It said it would use a 1.4 billion euro tax refund to cut its 65.2 billion euro debt mountain this year. MAN AG: Seeks SHW Buyer ----------------------- Troubled German truck maker MAN AG is seeking a buyer for its subsidiary Schwabische Huttenwerke (SHW), reports the Financial Times Deutschland. With the unexpected dip in new orders in MAN, analysts now doubt whether it can still meet said targets. MAN has already issued four profit warnings during the year. TEAMWORK INFORMATION: To Complete Restructuring Soon ---------------------------------------------------- teamwork information management AG, the insolvent Paderborn-based information management solutions provider, said last week it would soon complete its restructuring. The chances for successful restructuring have risen further due to the positive result in the third quarter of 2001. teamwork secured its listing on the Neuer Markt until October 1, 2002 as the result of an interim injunction against the delisting regulation for insolvent companies. Furthermore, teamwork AG receiver, lawyer Dr. Frank Kebekus, Dusseldorf, has received two offers for different types of restructuring. The first variant consists of an asset deal, where the liabilities would remain in the AG. The second variant consists of recapitalizing the company through a capital reduction and subsequent increase by issues of subscription rights, as well as in the consent of the creditors to the insolvency plan. The restructuring variant will allow the company to discharge its debts in full and be furnished with a positive capital stock. For more information, contact Dr. Sabine Brummel, Investor Relations, at telephone +49 (0)5251 - 5201- 145, or e-mail sbrummel@teamwork.de ============= I R E L A N D ============= EIRCOM PLC: Receives Notification of Interests ---------------------------------------------- PRNewswire, November 15 eircom announces that it has received notification of interests as follows: On behalf of Valentia Telecommunications Limited, of 25/28 North Wall Quay, Dublin 1, we hereby give you notice in compliance with the provisions of Section 71(2) of the Companies Act, 1990 of the acquisition by Valentia of a notifiable interest (as defined in Section 68 of the Act) in shares comprised in the relevant share capital (as defined by Section 67(2) of the Act) of eircom plc as required by Section 67(1) of the Act. The obligation to make this notification arose on 9th November, 2001 upon acceptances in relation to the offer made by Goldman Sachs International, on behalf of Valentia for the entire issued share capital of the eircom in respect of Ordinary Shares of 0.25 euro each in the capital of the eircom being received by Computershare Investor Services (Ireland) Limited. The number of shares comprised in the relevant share capital of the eircom in which Valentia was interested immediately after the time when the obligation to make this notification arose was 1,987,468,700 ordinary shares of 0.25 euro each in the capital of the Company (representing 90.01% of the relevant share capital of the Company). EIRCOM PLC: Valentia Replaces Eircom Board ------------------------------------------ Eircom Plc announced last week that its board was replaced as Valentia Telecommunications Limited, Ireland's biggest traditional phone company, took over the former state-owned telecom monopoly. The board members who resigned included former European Union Commissioner Ray MacSharry, DCC Plc CEO Jim Flavin, Bill Attley, former Irish Foreign Minister Dick Spring, former Bank of Ireland CEO Pat Molloy, Marten Pieters and Patrick Morley of Royal KPN NV, Peter Lynch, and Annika Christiansson of Swedish phone company Telia AB. Chief Executive Officer Alfie Kane also said he would step down after the company finds a new CEO. Jonathan Nelson, Paul Salem, John Hahn, Biswajit Subramanian, Ramez Sousou, Niclas Gabran and Con Scanlon were appointed to the new board, chaired by Irish billionaire Sir Anthony O'Reilly. This month, the Irish government approved the acquisition of Eircom for 3.01 billion euros ($2.65 billion) by the Valentia group of investors. Valentia is backed by financier George Soros, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Providence Equity Partners Inc. as well as O'Reilly. ========= I T A L Y ========= ALITALIA SPA: Government Agrees to Cash Injection ------------------------------------------------- The Italian government is willing to inject cash into ailing flagship carrier Alitalia SpA, depending on the economic sustainability of the airline's restructuring plan. According to Il Sole 24 Ore's weekend report, the government intervention will be aimed at a consistent and stable recovery of the company. However, it has remained unclear whether the Italian government, which owns 53% of Alitalia, would participate in an eventual capital increase aimed at helping to relaunch the company. Alitalia will receive 387.3 million euros of European Union aid, the report added. =========== N O R W A Y =========== KVAERNER ASA: Shares Surge After Rescue Plan Approval ----------------------------------------------------- Shares of Oslo-based engineering and construction group Kvaerner ASA rose as much as 15% after its bondholders approved the 7.5 billion kroner ($833 million) plan, Bloomberg reported Monday. The rescue plan involves a share sale and debt refinancing. Kvaerner shareholders will vote on the same plan on November 29. KVAERNER ASA: Shares Suspended in Oslo -------------------------------------- Oslo Stock Exchange spokesman Tor Olsen said shares in financially troubled Anglo-Norwegian engineering group Kvaerner ASA were suspended from trading around 1315 GMT Friday due to a large buy order from Swiss bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd. According to a Dow Jones Newswires report, there was an order to buy Kvaerner shares for around 6 million kroner. Kvaerner has faced severe financial difficulties after its lenders turned risk-averse. Its shareholders will meet on November 29 to vote on a 3 billion Norwegian krone rescue package. Kvaerner's share price at the close Friday was 12 Norwegian krone, up 13.2%. KVAERNER ASA: Will Keep Philadelphia Shipyard --------------------------------------------- Engineering and construction group Kvaerner ASA is keeping the Philadelphia shipyard on the Delaware River, reports the Associated Press. "I'm not thinking of selling," new Kvaerner chief executive officer Kristian Siem says. To recall, Siem's predecessor Kjell Almskog put all of Kvaerner's 13 shipyards up for sale as a way to reverse debt. Ten of which were sold, but the Philadelphia yard did not find a buyer. With the yard now off the market, Kvaerner plans to install a management team to operate the troubled shipyard. Kvaerner itself has been struggling, seeking to solve acute cash flow problems to stay out of bankruptcy court. The company employs 80,000 people in 100 countries. Kvaerner posted a net loss of $460 million for the first nine months of this year, compared with a profit of about $29 million in 2000. =========== S W E D E N =========== ADERA AB: Posts Third-Quarter EBITA Loss of SEK28MM --------------------------------------------------- Adera reported that its operating result before goodwill amortization and items affecting comparability (EBITA) for the third quarter was a loss of 28.1 million Swedish krona, and a loss of 95 million Swedish krona for the nine-month period. Sales during the third-quarter of 2001 totaled 52 million Swedish krona, compared with 122 million Swedish krona in the year- earlier period. For the nine-month period, sales amounted to 275 million Swedish krona. During the third quarter, Adera proceeded with the streamlining and restructuring of operations to IT-driven Business and Operations Development and Integrated Communication. For additional information, contact Rolf Jansson, President and CEO at Ostra Hamngatan 41-43, SE 411 10 Gothenburg, Sweden or telephone +46 705-72 72 02 ADERA AB: Shuts Down Stockholm Office ------------------------------------- IT consultancy firm Adera AB announced last week it would close its web office at Drottninggatan in Stockholm as part of the on- going restructuring program. The closure means that approximately 20 persons will be affected. "I still believe that our measures will lead to profitability," says CEO Rolf Jansson. Due to mounting losses attributed to a decline in market demand, Adera in February announced a 35 million Swedish kronor restructuring plan required to return the company into profitability. Company reorganization involved the closing of its units including offices in Munich, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Belgium, (Stureplan) Stockholm, asset sales in Germany and workforce downsizing. ADERA AB: To Sell Nucleus Ltd ----------------------------- Adera is selling Nucleus Ltd in London to a newly formed company owned by Nucleus founder Peter Matthews to allow the IT consultancy firm to focus on their Swedish operations, pending approval from its shareholders. According to Adera CFO and Vice President Nils-Ove Andersson, the deal certainly improves the company's cash position and the chances of reaching profitability quickly. By the end of the second quarter, Nucleus' operations were affected by the sharp market downturn in the UK and Europe. As a consequence, it implemented a restructuring in July reducing its employees from 36 to 21. In its third quarter report, Adera wrote off the goodwill of Nucleus to a zero value. For more information, contact Nils-Ove Andersson at mobile +46- 703-03 67 33 LM ERICSSON: Sells Cable Modem Business in U.S. ----------------------------------------------- Mobile networks maker Ericsson, which made a 5.8 billion Swedish krona ($548.7 million) pre-tax loss in the third quarter, will sell its cable modem business in Virginia, USA, to Canadian firm Aastra Technologies Ltd. The agreement with Aastra for transfer of Ericsson's consumer cable modem design, marketing, and sales resources is a result of Ericsson's ongoing product portfolio review. Together with Aastra, Ericsson will assure a smooth transition for its vendors and customers in this business area. For further information, contact Kathy Egan, Vice President Ericsson Inc., at telephone +1 212 685 4030 or email: kathy.egan@ericsson.com ===================== S W I T Z E R L A N D ===================== 4M TECHNOLOGIES: Delays Publication of Third-Quarter Result ----------------------------------------------------------- 4M Technologies SA, a leading manufacturer of production systems for optical discs, has postponed the publication of its third quarter results to November 30. Last month, the company won a six-month extension of court protection from its creditors until March 31, 2002, allowing the Swiss company to pursue its activities and submit a composition proposal to its creditors. To recall, 4M Technologies posted at the end of June a loss of CHF18.9 million (refer to http://bankrupt.com/misc/4m_technologies.pdffor the company's financial statement). SWISSAIR GROUP: Crossair Meets Swissair Employees ------------------------------------------------- The executive board of Crossair and about 2,000 personnel of the Swissair Group met Friday in the SR Technics hangar at Zurich Airport to discuss on the implementation of Phoenix Project. "The respective negotiations are well under way. As far as the divisions Network, Operations, Sales and Product are concerned, work is in full swing," says Crossair CEO Andre Dose. The Crossair CEO called on the employees of the Swissair Group to support him and the whole management team in implementing the Phoenix Project, wherein Switzerland will continue to have a national airline. =========================== U N I T E D K I N G D O M =========================== BRITISH TELECOM: Denies Blu Sale Talks -------------------------------------- British Telecom has denied reports it may sell its 20% stake in Italian mobile group Blu to Spanish telephone company Telefonica SA, Dow Jones Newswires in its Monday edition said. A Telefonica spokeswoman said, "There have been no negotiations on taking a stake in Blu." A BT spokesman also said it was well-known the company wished to exit its investment in Blu but that "We are not talking to Telefonica." BRITISH TELECOM: MMO2 Shares Rise After De-merger ------------------------------------------------- Shares in MMO2 rose more than 6% on Monday as the UK mobile phone company was formally de-merged from its parent British Telecommunications and began trading as an independently listed company. According to the Financial Times' Monday edition, the shares were trading at 85p, valuing the company at nearly 7.4 billion pounds ($10.5bn). Shares in BT Group also rose 5% to 290p in morning trade. MMO2 includes Cellnet in the UK, Viag in Germany, Digifone in Ireland and Telfort in the Netherlands CLAIMS DIRECT: Settles With Franchise Managers ---------------------------------------------- Personal injury specialist Claims Direct is understood to have settled a legal dispute with a group of franchise managers, the Financial Times reported Monday. This development removes one of the main lawsuits against the company, as 21 franchise managers out of 26 have now settled. Claims Direct, which reported losses of 20.2 million pounds in the year to March, had been in dispute with the managers since last year. The company is expected to take exceptional charges of between 3 million and 4 million pounds, including litigation charges as well as costs of defending the hostile bid mounted by co-founders Colin Poole and Tony Sullman. COLT TELECOM: Gains 7% After Shareholders Back Share Issue ---------------------------------------------------------- Cash-strapped Colt Telecom Group Plc gained 13p, or 7.4%, to 188 on Monday trading. According to a Bloomberg report, shareholders of the voice and data services provider backed a plan to raise as much as 400 million pounds through a share sale that will give US fund manager Fidelity a majority stake in the company. Earlier, it was reported in the November 14 edition of the Troubled Company Reporter Europe that the National Association of Pension Funds has supported the fundraising. However, another institutional shareholder organization has advised investors to vote against it. JAZZTEL PLC: Denies Takeover Talks With France Telecom ------------------------------------------------------ Telecommunications company Jazztel PLC denied it is involved in exclusive talks with France Telecom, Dow Jones Newswires reported Monday. The denial follows market rumors and press reports claiming that the France Telecom was interested in taking a majority stake in the alternative carrier. Jazztel earlier disclosed it has held preliminary talks with financial investors, which do include France Telecom, but are aimed solely at a restructuring of the company. In October, Moody's Investors Service placed the ratings of Jazztel p.l.c. on review for possible downgrade. The review is prompted by heightened concerns regarding Jazztel's ability to ultimately grow cash flow to a level sufficient to adequately service the company's large debt burden. MARCONI PLC: Offers $60MM Payouts to Fore Systems Chiefs -------------------------------------------------------- Telecoms equipment manufacturer Marconi has offered the directors of American company Fore Systems payouts worth over $60 million, the Daily Telegraph reported Monday. A Marconi spokesman said he could not confirm how much ultimately was paid out to the directors of Fore Systems. However, despite the money, Fore's executive directors left Marconi after the takeover in 1999, and none are understood to be employed in the embattled British group today. The pay bonanza is the subject of an unresolved two-and-a-half year legal action, in which it is alleged that the granting of some options to Fore executives was in breach of American "anti- fraud" legislation. The purchase of Fore was the biggest contributor to the collapse of Marconi where it posted a half-year loss of 5.1 billion pounds last week (see http://www.bankrupt.com/misc/marconi.pdffor the company's interim report). SCOOT.COM: Narrows Third-Quarter Loss, Cash Remains Scarce ---------------------------------------------------------- Online directories group Scoot.com narrowed its third-quarter EBITDA loss to 5.3 million pounds, against 9 million pounds in the second quarter, the Financial Times reported Monday. However, despite the recent sale of its classified newspaper Loot for 45 million pounds ($64 million), the group's cash situation remained scarce. Scoot had 12.2 million pounds in cash on its balance sheet on October 27. In the nine months to September 30, Scoot recorded a pre-tax loss of 174.8 million pounds and a loss per share of 24.9p, while sales rose from 11.4 million pounds to 29.8 million pounds, the paper added. *********** 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 Maria 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 240/629-3300. * * * End of Transmission * * *