/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR_Public/001013.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, October 13, 2000, Vol. 1, No. 112

                         Headlines

B E L G I U M

LOUIS DE POORTERE: Reginald de Poortere Makes Last-Ditch Offer
LOUIS DE POORTERE: Dossier Gets Bogged Down
REAL SOFTWARE: To Seek Longer Debt Repayment Period


G E R M A N Y

GIGABELL: Starts a Possible Shakeout Among Neuer Markt Stocks


H U N G A R Y

MOL RT: Government Approves Gas Unit Sale


P O L A N D

HUTA KATOWICE: Treasury Minister Approves Restructuring Program


U N I T E D   K I N G D O M

BOXMAN: Needs 20m Pounds to Avoid Liquidation
BRITISH AIRWAYS: Restructuring Would Cut Routes, Slash Jobs
BRITISH AIRWAYS: To Axe 1,200 Jobs in Overhaul of Routes
EIDOS: Takeover Talks with Infogrames Ends
FINELIST: Equity Houses Hit By Failure

MILLENIUM DOME: Chief Calls in Fraud Busters Corruption Claims
RJB: Mining Group Ends Takeover Talks with Renco
RAYMOND ACCESS:  Liquidation Proceedings
SIRROCO COURIERS:  Liquidation Proceedings
SMARTALK LIMITED: DTI Petition to Wind Up

SOUTH DEVON:  Liquidation Proceedings
TEPNEL LIFE:  Posts Pre-Tax Loss Of 1.9 Million Pounds
TUDOR HOLDINGS:  Liquidation Proceedings
VELVETEX LTD:  Liquidation Proceedings
VERIAN LTD:  Liquidation Proceedings


=============
B E L G I U M
=============

LOUIS DE POORTERE: Reginald de Poortere Makes Last-Ditch Offer
--------------------------------------------------------------
Reginald De Poortere, owner of French textile company Flippo, has
made a last-minute offer for insolvent Belgian textile company
Louis de Poortere. The offer is supported by former managing
director Eric Smet, a number of former directors and three
investors. Mr Smet is of the opinion that the new offer will
stand a chance, as the court is only deciding on Monday.
Moreover, the offer is higher than the BFr503m offered by Dryon
and Lano. Reginald De Poortere wants to take over both divisions
and employ 275 people. All divisions will be kept in Mouscron, De
Financieel Ekonomische Tijd reported yesterday.


LOUIS DE POORTERE: Dossier Gets Bogged Down
-------------------------------------------
Le Soir & World Reporter reported yesterday that the Louis De
Poortere (LDP) dossier looks as if it is coming to a close.
Reginald De Poortere, who is trying to acquire the insolvent
Belgian textile company, has made it clear that he will appeal
the tribunal's decision to allow the Dryon-Lano consortium to
take over LDP. He called on the tribunal to re-open the dossier,
harshly criticizing both LDP's caretaker management and the
tribunal for the way they have handled the affair. The tribunal
is to give its verdict on the dossier in the next few days,
before handling the appeal from Reginald De Poortere.


REAL SOFTWARE: To Seek Longer Debt Repayment Period
---------------------------------------------------
Belgian IT services group Real Software was in talks with its
creditors to extend the payment period on a portion of its debt,
Chief Executive Rudy Hageman said on Tuesday. "We're in talks to
see in what period we can pay it off," Hageman told Reuters in an
interview on the sidelines of a KBC Securities investor seminar.
Real Software has debt of about 200 million euros, which was used
to finance its acquisition last year of U.S.-based Tava
Technologies. The company has been unable to meet a repayment
schedule that required paying off less than 30 percent of the
total by the end of November, Hageman said.


=============
G E R M A N Y
=============

GIGABELL: Starts a Possible Shakeout Among Neuer Markt Stocks
-------------------------------------------------------------
The Frankfurt Neuer Markt, less than three years old, has
experienced unusual turbulence since July. The Financial News
reports the near-bankruptcy suffered by Gigabell, the Internet
services firm, threatened to kick off a shakeout among Neuer
Markt stocks. Gigabell would have been the first NM-listed firm
to go bankrupt. Likewise, Infomatec, the German business software
developer, lost WestLB and Sal Oppenheim as its two main
sponsors. Infomatec was within days of being delisted; it would
have been relegated to the less-regulated Geregelter Markt.


=============
H U N G A R Y
=============

MOL RT: Government Approves Gas Unit Sale
-----------------------------------------
Reuters reported earlier this week that Hungarian Economics
Minister Gyorgy Matolcsy said on Wednesday the government will
approve the sale of oil and gas group MOL Rt, the loss-making
natural gas business, if shareholders opt for it at an
extraordinary shareholders meeting (EGM) on October 20. "About
MOL's gas business the decision lies in the hands of the
extraordinary general meeting on October 20," he told the
Parliament's budget committee. "If MOL's owners feel the gas
business is a burden -- we (the government) don't believe it is -
- then the state as a shareholder will approve the sale of the
gas business."

As to which buyers could be considered, Matolcsy said there were
various possible solutions but he did not go into further
details. The government offered to buy MOL's gas business earlier
this year. MOL said the gas business would post a loss of up to
HUF 100 billion this year because of a government decision to cap
gas price hikes at six percent this year.


===========
P O L A N D
===========

HUTA KATOWICE: Treasury Minister Approves Restructuring Program
---------------------------------------------------------------
The Polish Treasury Minister has approved the restructuring
program of Huta Katowice (HK), the Polish steel mill, accepting
investment bids from Corus, the UK-Dutch steel group, and
Danieli, its Italian counterpart. The decision allows the
foundation of a joint company of HK and Corus to produce long
elements, while Danieli will help to build an integrated casting
and rolling sheet metal line for $600m, Rzeczpospolita & World
Reporter reported earlier this week. The HK-Corus operations are
to be named HK Long. Corus is to take a 31 percent stake in the
venture, with the EBRD holding 20 percent, and HK's creditors
holding 19 percent. HK is to keep 80 percent of shares in its
venture with the Italians.


===========================
U N I T E D   K I N G D O M
===========================

BOXMAN: Needs 20m Pounds to Avoid Liquidation
---------------------------------------------
The Times noted yesterday that the Internet retailing sector
looked set to claim another victim when Boxman, the online CD
merchant, said it would be liquidated in two weeks without an
emergency 20 million pounds cash injection. Boxman, which
operates in seven countries, said it would seek shareholder and
creditor approval to place the company into voluntary liquidation
on October 23, unless it could arrange fresh financing.

Tony Salter, Chief Executive, said the loss-making company was
talking with a number of parties, which might be interested in a
full takeover, or providing additional cash. Boxman's 500-plus
investors, who have poured 50 million pounds into the business
since 1997, include Bernard Arnault, the French businessman, and
the Swedish rock bands Roxette and Ace of Base. Durlacher, the
UK-quoted technology investor, also holds a "negligible" stake.

Boxman, which has 120 staff, including 40 in the UK, stopped
trading on Tuesday night. Analysts said Boxman could be
attractive to offline retailers looking for an Internet presence.
The impending collapse of Boxman follows the failure of other
dot-com firms, including Clickmango and boo.com. Steve Cole,
chief executive of rival e-tailer Streets Online, said it was
possible to make profits selling CDs over the Internet, the Times
said.


BRITISH AIRWAYS: Restructuring Would Cut Routes, Slash Jobs
-----------------------------------------------------------
British Airways is preparing to cut routes, lay off several
thousand employees, revamp its London Gatwick hub and shake up
its management as part of a radical restructuring aimed at
stemming heavy losses on its short-haul European network. BA,
Europe's biggest airline also is said to be considering a
reduction in its South American services as it strives to return
to profitability after posting its first loss last year since its
privatization in 1987. The restructuring had been put on hold
during four months of fruitless negotiations to merge with KLM
Royal Dutch Airlines. Those talks were called off in late
September. BA staff fear there could be up to 6,000 job losses.

Chief Executive Rod Eddington's main priority is to staunch the
losses on routes to Europe, which totaled 310 million pounds  
($449.5 million) last year, wiping out profits from its trans-
Atlantic services. Eddington is expected to transfer some short-
haul flights to BA's CityFlyer unit and to franchise carriers
that have lower operating costs than the mainline operation. The
move risks protests by BA pilots. BA also is set to give up its
attempt to develop Gatwick as a second hub so close to its main
hub at London Heathrow.


BRITISH AIRWAYS: To Axe 1,200 Jobs in Overhaul of Routes
--------------------------------------------------------
The Independent News reported yesterday that British Airways is
to reduce capacity by 10 percent next summer and axe around 1,200
jobs as part of a sweeping drive to cut loss-making routes and
return its network to profitability. The airline yesterday
announced that services on 10 routes, mostly out of Gatwick,
would be moved, scaled back or scrapped altogether. A much more
wide-ranging overhaul of Gatwick's short-haul European network is
due to be unveiled before Christmas by Rod Eddington, BA's new
chief executive.

BA had originally planned to cut capacity by 8 percent next year
but Mr Eddington has decided that more radical surgery is needed.
BA's European operations lost 300m pounds last year, of which
Gatwick accounted for more than 100m pounds. BA is also to sell
four of its Boeing 747 jumbo jets to Virgin Atlantic, owned by
Sir Richard Branson, and replace them with wide-bodied, twin-
engined Boeing 777s operating at greater frequencies on more
profitable routes.

The job losses are expected to come largely from natural wastage
and, if necessary, voluntary severance programmes. The overhaul
of Gatwick's short-haul route network will result in BA dropping
or scaling back on loss-making routes used to provide feeder
traffic for long-haul services and focussing instead on point-to-
point services. A similar shift in route strategy is already
under way at Heathrow.


EIDOS: Takeover Talks with Infogrames Ends
------------------------------------------
Eidos announced Monday that its takeover talks with French
company Infogrames had ended. A series of profit warnings had
dragged down the company's share price, which had reached its
lowest point of 255p since March 1999, and Europe's biggest
computer games company Infogrames had earlier expressed interest
in taking over the struggling computer game company. Eidos is
best known for its Tomb Raider adventure series starring Lara
Croft.

According to an article published in The Guardian last Tuesday,
analysts hold the view that Infogrames is in no hurry to finalize
the acquisition, and there was a possibility they would wait
until the first half of next year to reopen negotiations. "The
French don't need Eidos at the moment, they can just let the
shares slip down further and then pick the company up at a
bargain price," one analyst said.

Confirmation that the talks have ended came three days after
Jeremy Lewis, Eidos's chief financial officer and one of its
leading dealmakers, quit the firm to "pursue other interests".

Yesterday's announcement compounds a miserable year on the market
for Eidos. In 1999 its shares were some of the best-performing on
the market, trading at a peak of around 12 pounds that valued
Eidos at more than 1bn pounds. Based on last night's close, Eidos
is now valued at 280m pounds. Electronic Arts, Havas
Entertainment, Microsoft and News Corporation were all rumoured
as possible buyers for Eidos but declined to bid. Analysts say
that Eidos shares should recover after the introduction of
PlayStation 2 and other new consoles. They say that the content
Eidos owns is in demand from a growing and wealthy market, the
Guardian said.


FINELIST: Equity Houses Hit By Failure
---------------------------------------
Three French private equity houses are facing losses that could
run to tens of millions of pounds after Finelist, the UK car
parts distributor, went into receivership at the end of last
week. Finelist was taken private by French spare parts and
automobile distributor Autodistribution in March of this year.
Autodistribution itself had been bought out at the end of 1999 by
a consortium of private equity groups CDC Equity Capital, Butler
Capital Partners and Axa Asset Management Private Equity, The
Financial News reported earlier this week.

Finelist is the first public-to-private casualty since the deal-
type experienced a resurgence in popularity in the late 1990s. At
the time of the deal, Finelist, with a turnover of AGBP500m
(E825m), was valued at AGBP159m. The bid price of 190p a share
represented a 42% premium over the quoted price of 135p a share
at the time of the offer. When they took over Finelist, its new
owners were aware of certain shortcomings in the management and
promptly fired those involved. However, they failed to uncover
what one banker described last week as 'deep financial
irregularities', which had gone unnoticed during the due
diligence period. The equity holders have the most to lose their
AGBP67m investment is at risk.

At stake on the debt side are credit facilities of almost Ffr4bn
($538m). Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas managed the facilities.
Eight banks each took on Ffr500m during syndication. They are
Credit Agricole Indosuez, CADIS, Credit Lyonnais, CCF, CIC-Credit
Mutuel, Royal Bank of Scotland, Scotiabank and Bank of Tokyo-
Mitsubishi. Even if the senior debt holders emerge unscathed,
there are holders of e275m in mezzanine debt behind them in the
repayment queue.

Ernst & Young has been appointed as the administrative receiver
to Finelist. It is confident of finding a buyer for the firm.
Alan Bloom, corporate restructuring partner, said: "We have
already received a number of expressions of interest for the
business."


MILLENIUM DOME: Chief Calls in Fraud Busters Corruption Claims
--------------------------------------------------------------
Mail on Sunday reported earlier this week that Dome chief
executive David James has appointed a team of fraudbusting
accountants to trawl through 2,000 contracts for any new cases of
suspected financial wrongdoing. The move comes after a string of
allegations of improper practices has rocked the New Millennium
Experience Company (NMEC), the business set up to run the Dome.
Mr James, a corporate troubleshooter brought in last month to
sort out NMEC's finances, has called in a team of "forensic
accounting" experts from City accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers
(PwC) to go through the books. Another team from PwC has already
completed a more general report on the Dome.

Mr James is keen to sort out the finances before a National Audit
Office report is published later this year and because it would
help efforts to sell the Dome. The Mail on Sunday has also
learned that the Dome itself is set to be dismantled and moved
from London to another British city because the site is worth
more without the embarrassing structure. This would leave a giant
slab of concrete in Greenwich brimming with essential services
but without the Dome to hinder the plans of prospective
developers.

The first PwC team sent in to examine NMEC's finances filed a
damning report last month that said the Dome was technically
insolvent until its recent National Lottery handout of 47
million. They said there was a "culture" of financial control in
which NMEC directors had no idea of what it owed or had paid for
allegations that the company's directors deny. The second PwC
team last week quizzed senior directors and ex-directors at NMEC
on how suppliers and designers were introduced to the company and
how and by whom contracts were awarded. The latest inquiry has
been sparked by suspicions that alleged fraud or wrongdoing might
be more widespread than originally thought when police
investigators were called in to the Dome last month to
investigate a contract involving a supplier.

Talks are continuing between English Partnerships the Government
agency responsible for disposing of the Dome and the Legacy
consortium that has offered 100 million for the Dome. But senior
Whitehall sources have revealed that experts assessing the future
of the Greenwich site have told the Government that it has a
'much higher development value' without the Dome. Under options
being considered by English Partnerships, the giant structure
would be dismantled piece by piece and erected elsewhere for use
as a stadium. Nottingham, Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham are
among the cities that may be asked to take it. Insiders believe
it is the most cost-effective way of ending the ill-fated project
that has used up nearly 800 million of public money. A senior
source in the talks said: "The idea is to try to do this in a way
that results in something of value being left from the Dome and
the Dome being put in another place."


RJB: Mining Group Ends Takeover Talks with Renco
------------------------------------------------
The future of RJB, Britain's biggest coal producer, was thrown
into doubt once more after the company ended takeover talks with
the U.S. group Renco. The deal would have valued RJB at 75p a
share or 109m pounds. Shares in RJB fell 27 percent to 46.5p on
the news, valuing the company at just 68m pounds. Four years ago
it was worth almost 900m pounds.

Without naming the bidder, RBJ said it had terminated the talks
because Renco had failed to meet a deadline set several weeks ago
to confirm its interest in making an offer, at what price and
that it had the finance available. RJB added that discussion of
the offer had been distracting its management from the business
of running the company. RJB began serious talks with Renco in
mid-June having received an initial approach from the U.S.
company in March. RJB is now waiting on European Commission
approval for a 70m pounds subsidy from the Government to secure
continued production at its 13 deep mines.

A decision from Brussels is expected by the end of this month and
RJB said it did not anticipate any objections since failure to
approve the UK subsidies would place a question mark over the 3bn
pounds in state support the German and Spanish governments are
giving their coal industries. RJB said that following the failure
of the takeover talks it would concentrate on returning cash to
shareholders both from its mining operations and the sale of
surplus property from its 50,000 acre land bank. The group has
8,000 employees and produces around 20 million tons of coal a
year. However, RJB lost ?10.2m after losses of 17m pounds on its
deep mines. This was caused by the low prices on contracts struck
with electricity generators and under performance at some pits,
in particular Daw Mill in Warwickshire.


RAYMOND ACCESS:  Liquidation Proceedings
----------------------------------------
Company Name: Raymond Access Ltd
Company No: 3763536
Com. Business: Access Platform Hire
Appointed on: 11/09/00
Type: Creditors
Appointed by: Creditors and Members
Liquidators: Richard A Saville IPno: 7829
Firm Name: Savilles
Address: 1 North Road The Park
City Postcode: Nottingham NG7 1AG


SIRROCO COURIERS:  Liquidation Proceedings
------------------------------------------
Company Name: Sirroco Couriers Ltd
Company No: 2551091
Com. Business: Couriers
Appointed on: 11/09/00
Type: Creditors
Appointed by: Creditors
Liquidators: Roderick G Butcher IPno: 8834
Firm Name: Moore Stephens Booth White
Address: Beaufort House 94-96 Newhall Street
City Postcode: Birmingham B3 1PB


SMARTALK LIMITED: DTI Petition to Wind Up
-----------------------------------------
The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry presented a
petition in the High Court to wind up Smartalk Limited in the
public interest, M2 Presswire noted earlier this week. The
petition follows inquiries made by the Companies Investigation
Branch of the DTI under the provisions of Section 447 of the
Companies Act 1985. On the application of the Secretary of State
the Court appointed the Official Receiver as provisional
liquidator of Smartalk Limited pending the hearing of the
petition on 22 November.

Smartalk Limited was incorporated on 21 January 1999 and traded
from Leyland, Lancashire. The company operated a scheme selling
computers, which cost it approximately GBP535 each, to the public
for GBP100 each and a commitment by the purchaser to complete a
monthly "lifestyle" questionnaire for a period of two years.


SOUTH DEVON:  Liquidation Proceedings
------------------------------------
Company Name: South Devon Shopfitting Services Ltd
Company No: 3695164
Com. Business: Shopfitters
Appointed on: 11/09/00
Type: Creditors
Appointed by: Creditors and Members
Liquidators: Stephen J Hobson IPno: 6473
Firm Name: Francis Clark
Address: Southernhay House 36 Southernhay East
City Postcode: Exeter EX1 1NX


TEPNEL LIFE:  Posts Pre-Tax Loss Of 1.9 Million Pounds
------------------------------------------------------
The Times reported yesterday that Tepnel Life Sciences (medical
equipment) incurred final pre-tax losses of 1.9 million pounds.
There is no dividend.


TUDOR HOLDINGS:  Liquidation Proceedings
----------------------------------------
Company Name: Tudor Holdings (Care Properties) Ltd
Company No: 3199382
Com. Business: General Construction
Appointed on: 11/09/00
Type: Creditors
Appointed by: Creditors
Liquidators: Richard P Rendle IPno: 5766 Guy E Mander 8845
Firm Name: Baker Tilly
Address: Scottish Life House 154 Great Charles Street
City Postcode: Birmingham B3 3HN


VELVETEX LTD:  Liquidation Proceedings
--------------------------------------
Company Name: Velvetex Ltd
Company No: 420891
Com. Business: Belt/Braces Manufacturer
Appointed on: 11/09/00
Type: Creditors
Appointed by: Creditors and Members
Liquidators: David J Watchorn IPno: 8686
Firm Name: Elwell Watchorn & Saxton
Address: 109 Swan Street
City Postcode: Sileby LE12 7NN


VERIAN LTD:  Liquidation Proceedings
------------------------------------
Company Name: Verian Ltd
Company No: 1892571
Com. Business: Card & Fancy Gift Shops
Appointed on: 11/09/00
Type: Creditors
Appointed by: Members
Liquidators: W Paxton IPno: 8825
Firm Name: Thomas Paxton
Address: 42-44 Mosley Street
City Postcode: Newcastle-u-Tyne NE1 2DF



S U B S C R I P T I O N   I N F O R M A T I O N

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