/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR

/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR_Public/010531.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 Thursday, May 31, 2001, Vol. 2, No. 106 Headlines * A U S T R I A * LIBRO AG: Bank Debt Puts Future at Stake * B E L G I U M * CUSTOM SILICON: Invites Shareholders to Attend June 15 Meeting LERNOUT & HAUSPIE: Develops Recovery Plan * B U L G A R I A * BALKANBANK: Rosseximbank Shows Interest in Balkan Bank * F R A N C E * AIR LIBERTE: AOM Pilots Call Off Strike CS COMMUNICATION: Posts 432MM French Francs Loss in 2000 * G E R M A N Y * BANKGESELLSCHAFT BERLIN: Bank Losses Prompts Capital Increase BANKGESELLSCHAFT BERLIN: Hits Seven-Year Low BANKGESELLSCHAFT BERLIN: To Cut 3,200 Jobs CPU SOFTWAREHOUSE: Soars as First-Quarter Loss Narrows DAIMLERCHRYSLER AG: Canadian Group to Pay Less for Adtranz LOBSTER NETWORK: Net Loss Narrows to DEM4.68 Million TELDAFAX AG: Seeks for New Network Provider * I T A L Y * FREEDOMLAND-ITN: Seeks for New Investors * S W E D E N * FRAMFAB AB: Shares Jumps to 74% on Issue * S W I T Z E R L A N D * SWISSAIR GROUP: Balair Head to Resign in June * U N I T E D K I N G D O M * BRITISH TELECOM: Yell US Bosses to Receive 40 Million Pounds MILLENIUM DOME: Police Probes 35-Million-Pound Deal RAILTRACK GROUP: Threatens to Drop West Coast Upgrade UNIQ PLC: To Sell Malton Foods ============= A U S T R I A ============= LIBRO AG: Bank Debt Puts Future at Stake ---------------------------------------- Bookseller and media group Libro will determine this week whether the company, which has a bank debt of below DM330 million, has any future at all, Suddeutsche Zeitung & World Reporter in its May 28 edition said. Libro owes DM100 million to Bank Austria AG and DM77.7 million to suppliers. Creditor banks and Bank Austria have made it clear that they will only extend their existing credit lines if Libro's shareholders put up a further DM45 million. Shareholders, including Deutsche Beteiligungs AG and Invest AG, have shown little willingness to comply with the request. One possible rescuer could be German media giant Bertelsmann. ============= B E L G I U M ============= CUSTOM SILICON: Invites Shareholders to Attend June 15 Meeting -------------------------------------------------------------- Shareholders of Custom Silicon, a manufacturer and distributor of semiconductor packaging, are invited to participate the Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting on June 15, a May 25 press release from Nasdaq Europe said. The meeting will discuss on the proposal to issue convertible bonds & warrants, capital increase by contribution in kind, and the issue of maximum 156.464 bonds. To attend the Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting, shareholders must submit a proof of deposit at the company's Zaventem office not later than June 11. Earlier, Custom Silicon decided to restructure due to continuing weak markets. LERNOUT & HAUSPIE: Develops Recovery Plan ----------------------------------------- A group of Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products NV shareholders have developed an alternative recovery plan for the company under bankruptcy protection, the Associated Press in its Monday's edition said. The recovery plan, released on Monday by Roger Van Praet, chairman of the shareholders group, enables the company to avoid liquidation and offers creditors certainty about the amounts they will eventually receive. It involves selling the speech and language technology or forming a new company from those assets. However, the shareholders group is critical of the company's official plan. They say it is unclear about who receives any proceeds raised through a possible recovery. Van Praet also claims that existing shareholders would be forbidden from holding shares in a restructured company. Late last year, accounting scandals and fraud allegations sent Lernout & Hauspie's stock crashing, and forced the firm to seek bankruptcy protection in Belgium and the United States. Former L&H chief executive Gaston Bastiaens and co-founders Jo Lernout and Pol Hauspie were arrested on fraud charges. =============== B U L G A R I A =============== BALKANBANK: Rosseximbank Shows Interest in Balkan Bank ------------------------------------------------------ Rosseximbank has indicated interest to acquire the bankrupt Balkanbank, PARI Daily & World Reporter in its May 28 edition said. Balkanbank's assets were evaluated at BGN30,799 million in 1999, while its credit portfolio were at BGN330 million. =========== F R A N C E =========== AIR LIBERTE: AOM Pilots Call Off Strike --------------------------------------- Pilots of AOM has called off the strike they, with Air Liberte colleagues, started last Monday but warned they could launch surprise strikes if management is not moving to meet their demands, AFX News in its May 28 edition said. The strike was launched after chairman Marc Rochet's restructuring plan envisages the loss of a third of the jobs in the merged AOM-Air Liberte. AOM pilots, who feared they would bear most of the redundancies, called for the two companies to be completely separated in a bid to attract investors. CS COMMUNICATION: Posts 432MM French Francs Loss in 2000 -------------------------------------------------------- Computer and telecom systems maker CS Communication & Systems announced an operating loss of 432 million French francs for 2000, according to Reuters' Monday edition. The figure reflected the sale of its CS security unit and the fact that CS had filed for protection from creditors for its CS Telecom and CS Electronics divisions. CS Communications, which has a 119 million francs debt, said it expected to return to profit in 2001. It gave first-quarter turnover of 680 million francs. ============= G E R M A N Y ============= BANKGESELLSCHAFT BERLIN: Bank Losses Prompts Capital Increase ------------------------------------------------------------- Berlin's mayor Eberhard Diepgen has announced that due to losses at Bankgesellschaft Berlin, the city-controlled bank would be forced to increase public borrowing by DM6 billion this year, or DM4 billion within the next six weeks to keep it afloat, the Monday edition of the Financial Times reported. While the full scale of Bankgesellschaft's liabilities is yet to emerge, it is now clear that the crisis will deal a massive blow to Berlin's already precarious finances. The bank was plagued by inquiries from banking regulator BAKred and property losses since the building boom that followed German unification. BANKGESELLSCHAFT BERLIN: Hits Seven-Year Low -------------------------------------------- Shares in Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG on Monday dropped to 6.59%, its lowest in more than seven years, after a report that it would lose up to 2 billion euros ($1.72 billion) for 2000, Reuters reported. The share has lost more than 46% since the beginning of this year to a low of 8.20 euros on Monday, valuing the bank at around 1.65 billion euros ($1.42 billion). Over the weekend, Berlin regional finance minister Peter Kurth said the bank, 57% owned by the government, needed around 2 billion euros injection to prop up its capital base. BANKGESELLSCHAFT BERLIN: To Cut 3,200 Jobs ------------------------------------------ Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG will cut 3,200 jobs this year in an attempt to secure the bank's future, AFX News in its May 28 edition said. The severity of the troubled bank's situation, which began after the discovery of huge losses at its real estate lending operations, means Bankgesellschaft requires a wholesale restructuring as well as fresh capital. Berlin mayor Eberhard Diepgen said the state would now have to take on DM6 billion of new debt, bringing its total borrowing needs for the year to DM9 billion. CPU SOFTWAREHOUSE: Soars as First-Quarter Loss Narrows ------------------------------------------------------ Shares in financial software firm CPU Softwarehouse were up 15.85% at 1.90 euros on Monday after a major order helped the company to cut its first quarter pre-tax losses to 6.08 million marks ($2.67 million) from 11.17 million marks a year earlier, Reuters reported. The company said the results were better-than-expected after it won a 3 million marks order from a German online bank at the beginning of April to provide investment advisory software. A reduction of its workforce as part of last year's restructuring also helped cut CPU's losses, Reuters added. DAIMLERCHRYSLER AG: Canadian Group to Pay Less for Adtranz ---------------------------------------------------------- After extensive negotiations between the companies, Canadian aerospace and transportation group Bombardier expects to pay less than the $725 million originally agreed last year for DaimlerChrysler's rail equipment division Adtranz, the Sunday's edition of the Financial Times said. According to Bombardier's transportation division president Pierre Lortie, the final payment would likely be lower than the $725 million headline figure, but did not give details. Lortie added that the Adtranz acquisition has given Bombardier a fuller range of products, with very little overlap between the two companies. GENESCAN EUROPE: First-Quarter Loss Widens to 2.6MM Euros --------------------------------------------------------- Genescan Europe AG said its first-quarter operating loss before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) widened to 2.6 million euros ($2.2 million), from 1.8 million euros a year earlier, Reuters reported. Its net loss widened to 2.7 million euros from 1.5 million. The biotech firm said costs associated with the departure of its chief financial officer and the purchase of Der Laborshop GmbH in the first quarter worsened its loss. The wider-than-expected first-quarter loss sent Genescan's shares down to 3.7% at 18.30 euros. LOBSTER NETWORK: Net Loss Narrows to DEM4.68 Million ---------------------------------------------------- Data security developer Lobster Network Storage AG reported a nine-month net loss of DEM 4.68 million, down from DEM9.95 million before a one-off gain a year earlier, Dow Jones Newswires' May 28 edition said. The company's sales also fell 14% to DEM18.6 million due to the removal of less profitable products from the reseller portfolio. According to Wright Investors' Service, Lobster Net-Storage reported a loss per share of 0.46 euro for the first quarter of 2001, compared with a 0.13 euro per share loss the previous year. TELDAFAX AG: Seeks for New Network Provider ------------------------------------------- TelDaFax AG said it would not shut down after Deutsche Telekom AG announced it would close its network on Tuesday, but find another network provider through which to work with, AFX News reported. Deutsche Telekom on Friday said it would cut network access for the telephone service provider after the state court in Cologne district ruled in favor of DT. TelDaFax has filed for insolvency in April. It owes Deutsche Telekom 65 million deutsche marks for line rental. ========= I T A L Y ========= FREEDOMLAND-ITN: Seeks for New Investors ---------------------------------------- Internet-via-TV company Freedomland said on Monday a planned accord with investor group led by Onetone expired but it still sought interested parties. Onetone led a bidding group in April to acquire part of a stake belonging to Freedomland founder Virgilio Degiovanni, who was forced to step down as chairman following a police investigation into false accounting. The deadline for Bourse authorization of the share transfer expired, so the deal fell through. However, Freedomland will renew talks with potentially interested partners including the Onetone-led group. =========== S W E D E N =========== FRAMFAB AB: Shares Jumps to 74% on Issue ---------------------------------------- Shares of Internet consultancy firm Framtidsfabriken AB soared as much as 74% on news that its targeted share issue was oversubscribed, the Monday edition of Wall Street Journal said. Analysts and large investors were left cold by the oversubscription news, saying the jump in share price was speculative and the company's prospects are still dim. Framfab earlier said it would run out of cash by June unless investors injected new capital. ===================== S W I T Z E R L A N D ===================== SWISSAIR GROUP: Balair Head to Resign in June --------------------------------------------- Chief executive Catherine Stalker of Swissair Group's charter airlines unit Balair/CTA Leisure AG group will resign at the end of June because of the restructuring of charter businesses within the group, the Monday edition of Dow Jones Newswires said. Swissair chief executive Beat Schaer will head the unit until a new charter solution is implemented in 2002. Swissair said Stalker would stay on in a new role within the group. =========================== U N I T E D K I N G D O M =========================== BRITISH TELECOM: Yell US Bosses to Receive 40 Million Pounds ------------------------------------------------------------ Senior managers of the U.S. arm of Yell will receive 40 million pounds from British Telecommunications PLC's sale of the yellow pages company to a consortium of private equity firms, The Financial Times reported on Monday. The pay-out is believed to be connected with incentive schemes which managers agreed with BT after the company bought Yellow Book in the U.S. two years ago from VS&A Communications Partners II. BT has confirmed that the consortium of Apax Partners and Hicks Muse, Tate & Furst will buy Yell for 2.14 billion pounds. Merrill Lynch is the adviser Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst and Apax Partners, while NM Rothschild and Morgan Stanley for BT. MILLENIUM DOME: Police Probes 35-Million-Pound Deal --------------------------------------------------- The Scotland Yard detectives are reportedly investigating bogus payments for contracts between 30 and 35 million pounds that were awarded during the building of the Millennium Dome, This Is London on Monday reported. Government attempts to unload the site collapsed three months ago. It is still looking for a buyer. RAILTRACK GROUP: Threatens to Drop West Coast Upgrade ----------------------------------------------------- Railtrack Group Plc has threatened to go back on its promise to upgrade the west coast main line between London and Scotland by 2005 due to the rising cost of the project, the Guardian newspaper reported on Tuesday. The rail network operator would face unlimited fines from the rail regulator if it drops the plans that would allow tilting trains to reach 140 mph on the west coast route. The project was estimated to cost around 8 billion pounds ($11.4 billion) and Railtrack would have to obtain money from public funds or abandon the second stage of the project due to start next year, the Guardian added. UNIQ PLC: To Sell Malton Foods ------------------------------ Food producer Uniq PLC is in advanced talks to sell its loss- making pig and pork processing unit Malton Foods, the Financial Times' Sunday edition said. Malton has suffered from a series of crises in the pig industry with the foot-and-mouth outbreak. The sale proposal comes after the demerger of Uniq's transport business Wincanton, and for the company to focus on its convenience food activities. Rabobank, which is handling the Malton sale, is believed to have received final offers from interested parties that include Dutch and Danish pork companies, but Uniq has not yet selected a single bidder to enter exclusive talks. **************** 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. Cristina D. 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 * * *