Feldmuehle Uetersen Files for Insolvency Proceedings

The Schleswig-Holstein paper mill, Feldmuehle Uetersen GmbH, Germany, filed for insolvency at the Pinneberg district court on Jan. 24, 2018. The court has appointed the Hamburg attorney-at-law and restructuring expert Dr. Tjark Thies of Reimer Rechtsanwälte as the preliminary insolvency administrator.

Founded in 1904, the company has approximately 420 employees and produces around 250,000 metric tons of paper a year at its paper mill just west of Hamburg, Germany. Its products are used worldwide, mainly for the production of classic print products and in the packaging industry.

"Business operations will continue unimpeded. This goes for production as well as purchasing, sales, marketing, and logistics," said Thies. 

Heiner Kayser, managing director of Feldmuehle Uetersen noted that "our customers can count on continuing to receive on-time deliveries." He added that suppliers can rest assured that they will receive their money when new orders are placed."

Employees will continue to be paid for their work. Through the end of March 2018, their salaries will be covered by the Federal Employment Agency’s insolvency allowance.

Thies and a team of experts from Reimer Rechtsanwälte are currently working on a stocktaking, together with the Munich-based restructuring consultancy Ruppert Fux Landmann GmbH (RFL) and Feldmuehle’s management. 

"Feldmuehle has first-class products, production facilities, and processes as well as a highly motivated workforce and holds a leading market position. So we are justified in seeing the current proceedings as an opportunity for the company," said Thies.

"Feldmuehle will continue the strategic reorganization it has begun with the funds available to it under insolvency law. In particular, we will use the days and weeks ahead to review the extent to which the company could manage the economic rehabilitation just by itself," said management consultant Fux Landmann. One conceivable alternative to this would be its acquisition by an investor, he added.

Feldmuehle Uetersen develops and manufactures high-quality white coated label papers, packaging papers, and graphic papers for the German and international market. In Uetersen, near Hamburg, the company has more than 400 employees. The annual production capacity is about 250,000 metric tons of paper.

In the three business areas of labeling applications, pPackaging solutions, and graphical options, the company offers a broad product portfolio for the label and packaging industry, printing and publishing houses, brand owners, agencies, and converters.

The company was founded in 2015 after a long-standing affiliation with Stora Enso, Finland. It is continuing the 100-year old tradition of paper production at the Uetersen site under the name Feldmuehle.

More information is available online.