/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR

/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR_Public/010416.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, April 16, 2001, Vol. 2, No. 74 Headlines * B E L G I U M * LERNOUT & HAUSPIE: Ex-Execs Accused of Obstruction and Fraud * F R A N C E * TRANSPORTS GRIMAUD: Finds New Buyer * G E R M A N Y * ADAM OPEL: To Cooperate With Fiat EM.TV: Appoints Ex-Banker As New Chief * H U N G A R Y * MALEV AIRLINES: Seeks 35 Billion Government Funding * S P A I N * RECOL NETWORKS: Files for Bankruptcy * S W I T Z E R L A N D * INTERNATIONAL SPORTS MEDIA: Bankruptcy Proceedings to Resume INTERNATIONAL SPORTS MEDIA: Court Puts ISMM Into Liquidation ISL WORLDWIDE: Kirch Rejects ISL Bid SAIRGROUP: Swiss Canton Vaud to Reject 2000 Accounts SAIRGROUP: Under Criminal Probe * U N I T E D K I N G D O M * BALTIMORE TECHNOLOGIES: Alarms Market With Second Profit Warning BRITISH TELECOM: May Face Lawsuit From Rivals BRITISH TELECOM: To Sell Vans to Cut Debt CAMMELL LAIRD: Calls in Receivers CAMMELL LAIRD: Moody's Cuts Rating to C EQUITABLE LIFE: Appoints New Directors GRAY DUNN: Receiver Fails to Find New Owner for Biscuit Firm LASTMINUTE.COM: Appoints Peirce as Chief Technology Officer MOTOROLA: Unions Talk With Government on Job Redundancy ============= B E L G I U M ============= LERNOUT & HAUSPIE: Ex-Execs Accused of Obstruction and Fraud ------------------------------------------------------------ Founders and former board members Jo Lernout and Pol Hauspie, its former CEO Gastian Bastiaens and Nico Willaert are singled out in KPMG's audit for obstruction and fraud in the speech technology firm, AFX in its April 12 edition reported. According to a KPMG spokesman, it is more than just obstructing the audit, they gave false information over LDCs (development projects), side-agreements, encouraged third parties to tell lies or hide information. KPMG has a lot more unpublished evidence to back its case. Numerous examples of obstruction and false information were handed over by the former managers, the spokesman added. =========== F R A N C E =========== TRANSPORTS GRIMAUD: Finds New Buyer ----------------------------------- Belgian firm Ziegler, with a network of over 50 companies worldwide, has acquired French road haulage firm Transports Grimaud, Le Monde in April 11 reported. The day before it was designated as buyer by a commercial court, Ziegler said it would retain 1,109 jobs at Transports Grimaud, which was placed in receivership on January 9. ============= G E R M A N Y ============= ADAM OPEL: To Cooperate With Fiat --------------------------------- Carl-Peter Forster, the new head of Adam Opel AG, said he would cooperate more closely with Italy's Fiat SpA to cut costs and stem losses at the German arm of General Motors Corp., AP Online on April 12 reported. "We will have to see whether we will go as far as to develop common platforms," Forster said. Forster was appointed on April 1, following the January resignation of previous chairman Robert Hendry, who admitted he had not been able to revitalize Opel quickly enough. Opel last year posted a net loss of 835 million marks ($380 million). EM.TV: Appoints Ex-Banker As New Chief -------------------------------------- Former DG-Bank chief Bernd Thiemann will be the new supervisory board chief of German media group EM.TV & Merchandising AG, Reuters reported on Thursday. Thiemann will take over Nickolaus Becker, who quit earlier this year after clashing with EM.TV Chief Executive Thomas Haffa over a rescue deal with Kirch Group. ============= H U N G A R Y ============= MALEV AIRLINES: Seeks 35 Billion Government Funding --------------------------------------------------- Malev Hungarian Airlines has urged the government to inject Ft35 billion into the company to keep its planes in service after losing Ft10 billion last year, Hungary A.M. in its Friday report said. The government failed to find a partner for Malev since Alitalia SpA sold its stake in 1997 and has said it may close the airline. A stabilization plan is yet to be approved by the Hungarian airline's board. ========= S P A I N ========= RECOL NETWORKS: Files for Bankruptcy ------------------------------------ Recol Networks, Spanish online community for professionals, has filed for bankruptcy in Argentina, Business News Americas on April 11 reported. Recol informed Spain's securities regulator CNMV on February that it might liquidate and close its subsidiaries in Argentina and Mexico, due to the fact that they were not generating revenues for the company. Early this year, Recol laid off some 50 employees as part of a plan to cut costs by 69%, and allegedly failed to produce their last paychecks. ===================== S W I T Z E R L A N D ===================== INTERNATIONAL SPORTS MEDIA: Bankruptcy Proceedings to Resume ------------------------------------------------------------ A Swiss court has refused to delay bankruptcy proceedings for International Sports Media and Marketing (ISSM), which holds the world marketing rights for both the 2002 and 2006 WorldCups However, ISMM said it had asked Zug Cantonal Court for a three- month stay while it negotiated with an unnamed backer. It reportedly sought a deal with media giants Bertelsmann and Vivendi Universal, but was rejected. There has been speculation that Germany's Kirch Group is in talks with ISMM. The group filed for bankruptcy last month when its financial obligations were greater than its assets. ISMM blamed its failure on a move into unforeseen, problematic developments in new business areas, including a 10-year contract with the Professional Tennis Association for the rights to the Tennis Master Series, a marketing deal for Brazilian soccer clubs Flamengo and Gremio, and the rights to the basketball SuproLeague. The company is also in a legal dispute with the auto racing association CART over their contract. INTERNATIONAL SPORTS MEDIA: Court Puts ISMM Into Liquidation ------------------------------------------------------------ A Swiss court has put International Sports Media and Marketing (ISMM), which markets the soccer World Cup competition and the track and field World Championships, into liquidation, Agence France-Presse in its April 11 report said. ISMM holds some of the television rights for both of these competitions. ISL WORLDWIDE: Kirch Rejects ISL Bid ------------------------------------ German media group Kirch is not interested in buying ISL, the Swiss marketing subsidiary of the bankrupt International Sports Media and Marketing group, AFX on Thursday reported. "We've had discussions with ISL, but the talks were ended by Kirch," a Kirch spokesman said. "We're not interested in stepping into ISL's affairs." ISL owns the marketing rights for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups while Kirch owns the European broadcasting rights. SAIRGROUP: Swiss Canton Vaud to Reject 2000 Accounts ---------------------------------------------------- The Governing Council of the Swiss Canton of Vaud will refuse to approve SAirGroup AG's 2000 accounts at the company's AGM on April 25, AFX in its April 11 edition reported. According to Vaud's Council, SAirGroup needed to provide more information on its holdings, it alliance strategy and the expected costs required to restructure the group. The council will also support the proposal submitted by shareholder Hans- Jacob Heitz for an extraordinary audit of SAirGroup's books. Recently, Canton of Geneva said it would also refuse to approve the accounts. SAIRGROUP: Under Criminal Probe ------------------------------- Hanspeter Hirt, a Zurich district attorney, has opened a criminal investigation against persons linked to SAirGroup, which reported earlier this month a $1.7 billion loss for 2000, according to AP Online in its April 10 report. Hirt said the investigation would look at whether investors had been misled by official company financial reports, and also whether payments to departing executives had been legal. SAirGroup experienced a management shakeup with the resignation of nine of the group's 10 board members, and the replacement of its chairman. The group immediately began pulling back from plans to increase investments in a number of foreign companies, and said it would no longer invest more money in its loss-making French airlines, AOM, Air Liberte and Air Littoral. =========================== U N I T E D K I N G D O M =========================== BALTIMORE TECHNOLOGIES: Alarms Market With Second Profit Warning ---------------------------------------------------------------- Baltimore Technologies Plc may have to implement a major rationalization program after shocking the market with its second profit warning, the Wall Street Journal in its April 12 edition said. In late March, Baltimore indicated that sales in the first quarter to would be no more than 25 million sterling pounds, against analyst expectations of 30 million-pounds plus. Now Baltimore has revised its sales forecast down further, saying sales in the period will be just 23.7 million pounds. The second warning has had a devastating effect on Baltimore shares. The shares fell 18p on 74p sterling. BRITISH TELECOM: May Face Lawsuit From Rivals --------------------------------------------- British Telecom could face a lawsuit from rival companies angry at past prices BT charged them for access to its leased lines, the Financial Times in its April 11 edition said, citing Peter Teare, partner at the London law firm Crowell & Moring. Leased lines are the permanently connected links used mainly by businesses for always-on voice, data and Internet services. BRITISH TELECOM: To Sell Vans to Cut Debt ----------------------------------------- British Telecom plans to sell up to 58,000 of its vans to a fleet leasing operator to cut its 30 billion-pound debt burden, Press Association in its April 12 edition said. The move comes just a day after BT confirmed it would sell its sizeable property portfolio in a 2 billion-pound deal with Trillium, a joint venture led by Land Securities. BT has pledged to reduce 10 billion pounds off its debt mountain by the end of this year. The company is currently in discussions to sell its Yellow Pages division to a private equity group and has considered a full demerger of its BT Wireless mobile phone subsidiary. The telecom group was almost certain to sell off stakes in mobile phone ventures in both Asia and Europe as part of its debt reduction package. CAMMELL LAIRD: Calls in Receivers --------------------------------- PricewaterhouseCoopers are trying to secure the future of the troubled shipbuilder Cammell Laird after it amassed debts of 125 million pounds, AccountingWeb in its April 12 report said. According to Edward Klempka of PcW, they will continue to trade the company while seeking a buyer for the shipbuilder. Business will continue on Merseyside and Tyneside, while no mention of redundancies from the 3,500 staff was made. Operations in Gibraltar, Marseille, USA and some UK subsidiaries remain outside the receivership. CAMMELL LAIRD: Moody's Cuts Rating to C --------------------------------------- Moody's Investors Service on April 12 downgraded to C from Ca the rating for the 125 million euro senior notes of Cammell Laird Holdings plc following the company's announcement that it will appoint receivers to sell the company's assets. The following ratings were downgraded: CLH's senior implied rating to Ca from Caa2, the rating of a GBP 50 million secured revolving credit facility to Caa3 from Caa2 CLH's issuer rating to C from Ca and the bond rating to C from Ca. The rating actions conclude Moody's review first initiated on December 8, 2000. The downgrade to C of the bond rating reflects the expectation of a low recovery rate for bondholders in the receivership process due to the illiquid asset structure, high debt levels, and the secured nature of a GBP 50 million revolving credit facility. Moody's notes that CLH has not been able to reinstate financial flexibility, following the termination of a high value contract by a key customer at the end of January. The company has not been in a position so far to generate additional funding sources and to secure ongoing commitment of its bank lenders. Moody's also notes that in addition to the extremely tight liquidity situation, negotiations over a new $500 million contract for the construction of two new cruise ships could not be concluded on time due to a dispute over government loan guarantees. Cammell Laird Holdings, with principle offices in Liverpool, United Kingdom, is a leading marine service company with activities in repair, construction and conversion of vessels for the commercial, offshore exploration, cruise and U.K. military markets. EQUITABLE LIFE: Appoints New Directors -------------------------------------- Equitable Life has appointed six new non-executive directors to the troubled life assurer's board, AFX in its April 12 report said. Chairman Vanni Treves and chief executive Charles Thomson have approved the appointment of David Adams, Sir Philip Otton, Michael Pickard, Peter Smith, Andrew Threadgold and Jean Wood. The six new appointees will stand for election at the group's annual general meeting on May 23. The existing non-executive directors will leave the company when the six nominees are approved. Treves said the new directors have been chosen for their range of backgrounds and skills. GRAY DUNN: Receiver Fails to Find New Owner for Biscuit Firm ------------------------------------------------------------ Gray Dunn, which makes own-brand biscuits for a number of high street supermarkets including Marks & Spencer, Safeway and Tesco, will cease its production lines next month with the loss of 130 jobs, according to the Friday edition of The Scotsman newspaper. The firm went into receivership in January, after the company's debts rocketed to 700,000 pounds. Receivers Deloitte & Touche are said to have failed to save the company from going out of business after three potential buyers are understood to have pulled out of talks. Earlier this year, Gray Dunn laid off 86 of its workers when it called in the receivers. After it revealed the company was in financial trouble, the company received in April 1999 a 1.75 million-pound rescue package from Scottish Enterprise Glasgow, along with the city council and the European Regional Development Fund. Still, the recovery package failed to help the company stay afloat. LASTMINUTE.COM: Appoints Peirce as Chief Technology Officer ----------------------------------------------------------- Mike Peirce of LibertySurf Group SA will take over the responsibilities of Dominic Cameron as chief technology officer of lastminute.com, M2 Communications Ltd. in its April 10 edition said. With 12 years experience in the retail sector, Peirce will oversee the development of the lastminute.com technology platform to support the company's business targets, its international presence and its multi-platform strategy. Dominic has been appointed project director for lastminute.com's advanced speech recognition service, VoiceWeb. This new strategic position reflects the importance that the company attaches to the opportunities emerging from voice recognition technologies and its belief in their potential revenue growth. MOTOROLA: Unions Talk With Government on Job Redundancy ------------------------------------------------------- Leaders of STUC, TGWU, the AEEU and the ISTC unions have held talks with Scottish enterprise minister Wendy Alexander at the Scottish Trades Union Congress in its aim to save more than 3,000 jobs at a mobile phone factory in Bathgate, Press Association on April 12 reported. The company has announced a 140 million-pound loss for the first quarter of the year and talked of making cutbacks, leading to fears of the plant closure. 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 Cristina Pernites, 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 * * *