/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR

/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR_Public/010822.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, August 22, 2001, Vol. 2, No. 164 Headlines * B E L G I U M * LERNOUT & HAUSPIE: Committee Awaits Approval to Retain Lafili UBIZEN NV: Considers Sale of Software Unit UBIZEN NV: Plans to Cut Jobs * F R A N C E * AIR LIBERTE: Completes Redundancy Plan GENSET SA: Revenue Slips to 9.8MM Euros * G E R M A N Y * ADAM OPEL: GM Will Transfer Opel Production BANKGESELLSCHAFT BERLIN: DSGV Remains Calm Over Acquisition Talks LIPRO AG: Faces Insolvency Action LTU GROUP: Needs Further Capital Injection OWENS CORNING: Announces Alliance With Bayer PHILIPP HOLZMANN: Will Make Up to 700 Workers Redundant * N E T H E R L A N D S * PHARMING GROUP: Court Okays Receivership Status * N O R W A Y * BRAATHENS ASA: Competition Authority to Block SAS Deal * P O L A N D * DAEWOO GROUP: Electronics Division Steps Up Restructuring * S W I T Z E R L A N D * 4M TECHNOLOGIES: Postpones Publication of Second-Quarter Results SWISSAIR GROUP: To Expand Geneva-Zurich Flights * U N I T E D K I N G D O M * BRITISH NUCLEAR: Asks for More Cash CAMMELL LAIRD: Sacks More Shipyard Employees CLAIMS DIRECT: Founders Set to Sell Firm GLOBALNET FINANCIAL: Faces Class Suit in the US ICELAND GROUP: Ex-Chief Denies Insider Trading INTERX PLC: Loss Widens After Restructuring RAGE SOFTWARE: Loss Widens to 17MM Pounds RAGE SOFTWARE: To Break Even Despite Losses VAUXHALL: GM Lifts Plant Closure Threat ============= B E L G I U M ============= LERNOUT & HAUSPIE: Committee Awaits Approval to Retain Lafili ------------------------------------------------------------- The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Dictaphone Corporation has asked Judge Wizmur to approve its retention of Lafili, Van Crombrugghe & partners as special Belgian counsel for the Dictaphone Committee to assist and represent it in the Concordat. The Dictaphone Committee has also asked that Judge Wizmur enter an order authorizing the Dictaphone Committee to retain Lafili effective as of February 28, 2001, as the Dictaphone Committee's special Belgian counsel for the purpose of providing advice to the Dictaphone Committee on Belgian law in connection with various litigation, corporate mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property, labor law, tax law, finance law, and securities matters pertinent to the Concordat. The Committee describes Lafili as a highly esteemed Belgian law firm with considerable experience in representing entities involved in concordat proceedings. Due to Lafili's substantial expertise and knowledge in the field of insolvency and restructuring and the Dictaphone Committee's need for on-going legal advice concerning the Concordat, the Dictaphone Committee believes that retention of Lafili as special counsel is in the best interests of the Dictaphone Committee and Dictaphone's creditors. Lafili attorney Francis Vanhoonacker will be primarily responsible for the representation of the Dictaphone committee. Although the Dictaphone Committee has employed Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft as its primary attorneys in these chapter 11 cases, Lafili is intimately familiar with Belgian laws, rules and practices concerning the Concordat and is therefore able to assist Cadwalader in representing the Committee. The professional services to be rendered by Lafili include litigation of any and all issues in connection with the Concordat, including trial. (L&H/Dictaphone Bankruptcy News, Issue No. 10; Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., 609-392-0900) UBIZEN NV: Considers Sale of Software Unit ------------------------------------------ Internet security company Ubizen plans to sell its software unit to raise cash flow, the Monday edition of Dow Jones Newswires said. Earlier, the company reported a third-quarter net loss of 4.47 million euros, compared with a loss of 1.7 million euros in the same period last year, due to a drop in sales and weak economic conditions. UBIZEN NV: Plans to Cut Jobs ---------------------------- Belgian Internet security company Ubizen NV plans to cut jobs to slash expenses by 4 million euros a quarter, the Monday edition of Dow Jones Newswires said, citing Chief Executive Stijn Bijnens. The company said the cost reduction plan has already started with the closure of offices in Denmark and Hong Kong. The goal is to ensure positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization by December 2001. The group's net operating loss for the third-quarter widened to 9.06 million euros, compare with a 2.06-million-euro loss a year ago. =========== F R A N C E =========== AIR LIBERTE: Completes Redundancy Plan -------------------------------------- A special committee, which comprises management representatives and workers at troubled AOM-Air Liberte, has completed the French airline's redundancy plan, the La Tribune & World Reporter in its Monday edition said. Of the 4,559-strong workforce, more than 1,400 will be made redundant. It comprises of 802 ground staff, 350 air hostesses, 253 pilots and 72 staff from subsidiaries ALI, MAG and HRS, which are in receivership. The redundancy plan costs 650 million euros. GENSET SA: Revenue Slips to 9.8MM Euros --------------------------------------- The first-half revenue of biotechnology company Genset fell to 9.8 million euros from 17.4 million euros a year earlier, the Monday edition of Wall Street Journal said. Genset said last month it would no longer sell its Oligos DNA- synthesis unit. Listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market and Nouveau Marche, Genset added that phase-one studies for antiobesity drug Famoxin would be pushed back six months. ============= G E R M A N Y ============= ADAM OPEL: GM Will Transfer Opel Production ------------------------------------------- The European management of General Motors Corp. has decided to transfer the production of 5,000 Opel Astras to Adam Opel AG's plant in Germany from its Belgian unit. According to the Monday edition of Dow Jones Newswires, the measure fits into the larger plan to trim production across Europe. Adam Opel AG said earlier it plans to cut production by 15%, close one major factory and eliminate thousands of jobs to save 2 billion euros and return the carmaker to the black by 2003. BANKGESELLSCHAFT BERLIN: DSGV Remains Calm Over Acquisition Talks ----------------------------------------------------------------- Bankgesellschaft Berlin on Monday said that the Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband (DSGV, German Savings Bank and Giro Association) is very calm about the talks between the Berlin Senate and American investor Christopher Flowers. As reported earlier, Flowers has expressed an interest in acquiring the beleaguered Berlin bank as a whole. Several talks have been held with Flowers, including that with Krajewski and Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit. There will be further talks with Flowers and other potential buyers in the private and public sectors. NordLB, which has a 20% stake in Bankgesellschaft, also submitted an interesting offer to the Senate, in which the Sparkasse Group will be involved. A DSGV spokesperson said that the association would be holding further intensive talks with the bank and the Senate to check and assess the offers. LIPRO AG: Faces Insolvency Action --------------------------------- Employees and medical insurers of Lipro AG have initiated interim insolvency proceedings against the German software company as a result of unpaid wages and premium payments of about 400,000 marks, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Lipro's accounting head Roy Wenske said the proceedings jeopardize the company's plans to raise new funds and rescue its business. LTU GROUP: Needs Further Capital Injection ------------------------------------------ Troubled charter airline LTU, according to the Monday edition of Handelsblatt & World Reporter, will need capital injection as its liquid funds will last only until 2002. LTU has been pushed to the verge of bankruptcy through years of mismanagement and massive surplus capacity in the sector. Last year, the airline booked a loss of 224 million euros on sales of 2.23 billion euros. Despite the current downturn in the economy, the airline has made some progress. It is on track to halve last year's losses, but Daugaard does not expect the group to return to profit before 2004. With a continuously high kerosene prices and the strong dollar, LTU chairman Sten Daugaard does not expect to see signs of improvements in Europe's aviation industry in the coming months. LTU's shareholders are Swissair Group with 49.9%, German retailer Rewe with 40%, and Cologne-based investment firm CKA Unternehmensverwaltung und Beteiligungsgesellschaft with 10.1%. Swissair declined to comment officially on its involvement with LTU. OWENS CORNING: Announces Alliance With Bayer -------------------------------------------- The Automotive Solutions Business of Owens Corning and the Automotive Business Group of Bayer Corporation are forming a strategic alliance to develop advanced polyurethane/glass fiber composite technologies and accelerate their delivery to automotive OEMs and Tier One suppliers. The companies intend to pool complementary resources to develop advanced Structural Reaction Injection Molding (SRIM) and Reinforced Reaction Injection Molding (RRIM) technologies as "next step" alternatives to steel and aluminum in structural automotive applications. Owens Corning and Bayer will also work closely with third party manufacturers/molders and engineering design companies to ensure speedy delivery of the advanced technologies to the global automotive industry. Bill True, vice president of OCO Automotive Solutions, and Martin Dawson, vice president of Bayer's automotive Business, pointed out that the alliance will position its resources to provide local design and development support to automotive customers worldwide. Owens Corning is in the process of developing plans to locate business solutions centers in both Detroit and Europe. "The creation of European and US-based business solutions centers will enable Owens Corning to mobilize its global resources to deliver world-class solutions," True said. "Bayer also has a US-based office, as well as extensive Research and Development facilities in Pittsburgh and Germany," Dawson added. "The combination of our existing facilities and the new Owens Corning facilities will enable us to offer same-language, same-culture support to automotive customers in many countries. We plan to concentrate our initial alliance efforts in the NAFTA Region while the new Owens Corning facilities are being developed, but also support alliance efforts in Europe from Bayer's Leverkusen, Germany, facilities." (Owens Corning Bankruptcy News, Issue No. 16; Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., 609-392-0900) PHILIPP HOLZMANN: Will Make Up to 700 Workers Redundant ------------------------------------------------------- Philipp Holzmann, rescued from bankruptcy in 1999, will make between 500 and 700 employees redundant because of a serious downturn in the construction industry, the Agence France-Presse reported on Sunday. The troubled German construction firm may not achieve its aim to get out of the red this year as orders for the first five months of 2001 dropped by 7%, and business receipts fell by 11%. In addition to the redundancies, the company will close its branch in the city of Kassel. Some 6,000 staff has since been made redundant in a major restructuring ===================== N E T H E R L A N D S ===================== PHARMING GROUP: Court Okays Receivership Status ----------------------------------------------- The District Court in The Hague has granted cash-strapped biotechnology company Pharming Group N.V. a receivership status, the August 17 edition of Nasdaq Europe said. The receivership status means that for a limited amount of time, current creditors of Pharming cannot file for bankruptcy of the company. Pharming now seeks for new financing to secure its short-term future. The management is also developing and implementing a restructuring plan for the longer-term future of the company, including an option to either sell the entire company or to sell certain assets. Pharming has operations in Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands and the USA. It currently employs more than 200 people. =========== N O R W A Y =========== BRAATHENS ASA: Competition Authority to Block SAS Deal ------------------------------------------------------ Norway's competition authority plans to block the 1.1 billion Norwegian krone takeover offer of regional airline SAS to Braathens, the country's largest domestic carrier, the Financial Times reported on Monday. "If Braathens continues to lose money, gets closer to bankruptcy, there are no interested buyers and we don't think that an SAS purchase is worse than letting the company go bankrupt, then we have to accept it. As it looks at the moment those conditions are not fulfilled," competition authority legal director Elisabeth Roscher said. The authority fears fare increases if the two carriers combined, giving SAS a virtual monopoly on domestic flights. It also questioned whether Braathens was near bankruptcy, a pre-condition for granting the takeover. The authority will give its final decision before November 21. =========== P O L A N D =========== DAEWOO GROUP: Electronics Division Steps Up Restructuring --------------------------------------------------------- The overseas production lines of Daewoo Electronics are shutting down or overhauling their facility structures to stay afloat, the Korea Herald in its Monday edition said. Some production lines are shifting to OEM or contract-based projects for other companies as its own brand lost its appeal in the wake of the bankruptcy of the Daewoo Group. Daewoo's Mexico subsidiary closed its monitor production line and as it suffered losses due to the plunging prices and onslaught of cheaper Chinese monitors. Daewoo also plans to restructure its eight overseas production lines including the Czech Republic, Hungary and Venezuela. The creditors of Daewoo Electronics have recently designated KPMG as financial advisor for the sale of the company's main businesses. Creditors have been trying to sell Daewoo Electronics since the Daewoo Group collapsed in 1999 with more than $80 billion worth of debt. Up until now, no company had expressed its intention to take over Daewoo Electronics. ===================== S W I T Z E R L A N D ===================== 4M TECHNOLOGIES: Postpones Publication of Second-Quarter Results ---------------------------------------------------------------- Due to the actual difficulties encountered by its Swiss operational subsidiary, Multi Media Masters & Machinery SA, it was decided to postpone the publication of the company's second quarter results to August 30, 2001. Further information about the current difficulties will be released with this publication. SWISSAIR GROUP: To Expand Geneva-Zurich Flights ----------------------------------------------- Swissair said on Monday it plans to expand the number of daily flights between Zurich and Geneva to 14 per day to provide passengers from Western Switzerland with better connections to the entire world. The Swiss aviation group denied speculation on a reduction in the number of flights on this route for cost-cutting reasons. As announced on June 7, a total of 14 flights will be operated between 7:00 and 21:30 in both directions beginning October 28. Extended rotations will also help to ensure the punctuality of these connections. =========================== U N I T E D K I N G D O M =========================== BRITISH NUCLEAR: Asks for More Cash ----------------------------------- British Nuclear Fuels is asking the Ministry of Defense and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority for extra cash to help it back into profit, the Monday edition of The Guardian said. The atomic services group is seeking to stem losses by renegotiating loss-making contracts to decommission nuclear plants and dispose radioactive waste. UK state-owned company, which manages eight nuclear power plants, made a pre-tax loss of 210 million pounds last year (see http://www.bnfl.co.uk/reports_2001/bnfl/summ_fin/page_02.htm). CAMMELL LAIRD: Sacks More Shipyard Employees -------------------------------------------- Another 117 shipyard workers were laid off from ship builder Cammell Laird, leaving only a skeleton staff of maintenance men at the yards, the Tuesday edition of The Times said. About 83 jobs were cut at the Birkenhead yard, while 34 workers from the Hebburn yard on Tyneside will be given their cards at the end of the week. Last week, private ship repair company A&P bought Cammell for about 10 million pounds, but has so far refused to give a commitment to keep the yards open. The Office of Fair Trading is examining allegations that the A&P deal creates a monopoly in the British ship repair industry, as the company will own nine of the country's biggest facilities. CLAIMS DIRECT: Founders Set to Sell Firm ---------------------------------------- Claims Direct founders Colin Poole and Tony Sullman looked ready to profit from the sale of the personal injury specialist, after property tycoon Simon Ware-Lane confirmed he was in formal discussions to acquire the company, the Independent News reported yesterday. Both parties hope to conclude an offer by the end of this week. It is understood that a deal would require agreement from the founders to discontinue their association with the company. The bid, which was reluctantly recommended by the company's independent directors, attracted insults as they floated the business at 180p a share in July last year. Claims Direct is struggling amid negative publicity surrounding the size of payouts to successful claimants. These were sharply reduced by the cost of insurance premiums for policies taken out against the expense of making claims. GLOBALNET FINANCIAL: Faces Class Suit in the US ----------------------------------------------- Law firm Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP said that an amended derivative and class action lawsuit was filed on August 17 in Delaware Chancery Court against the board of directors of Internet company Globalnet Financial, Business Wire reported on Monday. The complaint, brought by Globalnet shareholder Peter Fuhrman, alleges the Globalnet Board with breaches of fiduciary duty and insider self-dealing. Named in the lawsuit as defendants are current members of the company's board of directors, and former Globalnet directors Michael Whitaker and Nicholas Backhouse. A copy of the amended complaint filed in this action is available from the court, or can be viewed at http://www.milberg.com/globalnet/complaint.pdf. ICELAND GROUP: Ex-Chief Denies Insider Trading ---------------------------------------------- Former Iceland chief executive Malcolm Walker strongly denied any wrong doing while he ran the frozen-food retailer, yesterday's edition of The Times said. Walker was accused of selling 13.5 million pounds worth of shares in Iceland. The former Iceland chief sold the shares in December, just weeks before disastrous profit figures forced the share price to a record low. The Department of Trade and Industry and City watchdog the Financial Services Authority are both investigating allegations that Walker knew that the company was about to have a sharp fall in sales when he sold the shares. INTERX PLC: Loss Widens After Restructuring ------------------------------------------- InterX widened its pre-tax loss to 60.6 million pounds for the 11 months to June 30, against 20.6 million pounds for the year to August 5 2000, after restructuring its business, the August 21 edition of the Electronic Telegraph said. The Internet software group launched its restructuring in February after disappointing sales of its core Bladerunner product. InterX also put in place a major cost-cutting program and job cuts to reduce its cash burn to below 1 million pounds a month. RAGE SOFTWARE: Loss Widens to 17MM Pounds ----------------------------------------- Computer games publisher Rage Software PLC said its pretax loss for the full-year to June 30 had more than doubled to 17 million pounds, compared with a 6.7 million pounds a year earlier, because of investment in new titles, according to The Guardian's report yesterday. Like competitor Eidos, Rage has asked for fresh funds to reinforce its balance sheet and raiseed 20 million pounds. Accounting and reporting policies have been changed and management has been shaken up. RAGE SOFTWARE: To Break Even Despite Losses ------------------------------------------- Computer games group Rage Software insisted it would reach breakeven by the end of the current financial year despite reports of deepening losses, yesterday's edition of The Times said. Shares in the company fell to 7p as Rage reported pre-tax losses for the 12 months to June 30 of 17 million pounds. The jump in losses reflected that the company no longer receives advances on its games from outside publishers. According to Rage managing director Paul Finnegan, the restructuring had forced the company to secure a 15-million-pound facility from US bank GEM Global Yield Fund. Rage has also secured a 5-million-pound overdraft facility with the Bank of Scotland. The Times added that the company is on track to release 14 games in the coming year, including the David Beckham soccer game, based on the England captain, for Sony's PlayStation 2. VAUXHALL: GM Lifts Plant Closure Threat --------------------------------------- General Motors ruled out any factory closures as part of its European turnaround strategy, allaying fears that the Ellesmere Port plant of its British unit Vauxhall was under threat, the Electronic Telegraph reported yesterday. The move comes days after the car company's Adam Opel unit pledged to cut 350,000 cars in an attempt to return to profit by 2003, which will lead to several thousand job cuts. Some members of Adam Opel's supervisory board have questioned the long-term viability of Vauxhall's Cheshire factory. Vauxhall has invested 200 million pounds in turning Ellesmere Port into a flex-plant. It will begin manufacturing the new Vectra model next spring. ************ 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. 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 301/951-6400. * * * End of Transmission * * *