/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR_Public/020129.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

            Tuesday, January 29, 2002, Vol. 3, No. 20


                            Headlines

* G E R M A N Y *

COMDIRECT BANK: Seeks Buyer for Two Units
KIRCHGRUPPE: In Talks to Delay Axel Springer Payment
SCHMIDTBANK GMBH: Deutsche Post Backs Out From Consors Bid

* I T A L Y *

FIAT SPA: Plans to Merge Insurance Business With Fondiaria, Sai

* L U X E M B O U R G *

CARRIER1 INTERNATIONAL: Names Ex-WorldCom Chief as EVP

* N E T H E R L A N D S *

KPN NV: Buys Back EUR175MM Bonds

* N O R W A Y *

KVAERNER ASA: To Hear Over-Production Fine Ruling in February

* P O L A N D *

ELEKTRIM SA: Vivendi Looks to Sell Elektrim Stake
NETIA HOLDINGS: Recommends No Resolutions at EGM

* S W E D E N *

LM ERICSSON: Cancels Dividend After Record Losses

* S W I T Z E R L A N D *

SWISSAIR GROUP: No Longer Swiss Air Carrier
SWISSAIR GROUP: Pays Corti SFr12.5MM to Take CEO Job

* U N I T E D   K I N G D O M *

CELLTALK GROUP: To Appoint Administrator
CONSIGNIA: Will Reveal Cost-Cut Plans Soon
MILLENNIUM DOME: Will Release Previously Suppressed Dome File  
NTL INCORPORATED: Considers Sale of Premium TV to Cut Debt
NTL INCORPORATED: To Begin Debt Talks Soon
RAILTRACK GROUP: To Recruit 250 Engineers
REECE PLC: Administrators in Refinancing Talks
UPF-THOMPSON: Land Rover Seeks Court Order for Supplies Dispute


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


COMDIRECT BANK: Seeks Buyer for Two Units
-----------------------------------------

Comdirect, Europe's largest online broker, hopes to finalize the
sale of its unit companies in France and Italy by spring, the
Boersen-Zeitung reports.

If Comdirect fails to find a buyer, it will have to write off
around EUR180 million on the value of the two companies,
executive board speaker Bernt Weber told the newspaper.

Comdirect, whose majority shareholder is Commerzbank AG, first
announced its plans to sell the Italian and French units in mid-
November. It explained that the units would not be able to reach
profitability fast enough to meet the Comdirect group targets.

Since July 2000 when it launched operations, Comdirect's European
units has gained only 20,000 customer accounts in the first half
of the year and posted a net loss of 32 million euro ($28.6
million) for its European activities.

Comdirect is located at Pascalkehre 15, D-25449 Quickborn,
Germany.


KIRCHGRUPPE: In Talks to Delay Axel Springer Payment
----------------------------------------------------

Heavily indebted Munich-based media group KirchGruppe is in talks
with Axel Springer to postpone a 1.5 billion Deutsche marks ($675
million) payment due this month, the Financial Times reported.

The attempt to renegotiate the Axel Springer put option suggests
that Kirch would struggle to pay if the German publishing group
triggered it.

The financial health of KirchGruppe has been the subject of
growing concern, as it has emerged that Germany's largest
television broadcaster is shouldering debts of between 11 and 12
billion Deutsche marks ($5 billion) and a further 5 billion
Deutsche marks in contingent liabilities.

Earlier this month, Dresdner Bank, which in December had
threatened to call a $404 million loan, agreed to keep the credit
line open until April.

KirchGruppe aims to reduce the number of short-term loans and
dispose non-core assets to improve its balance sheet.


SCHMIDTBANK GMBH: Deutsche Post Backs Out From Consors Bid
----------------------------------------------------------

Deutsche Post AG's banking unit Postbank said it would not bid
for Europe's leading online brokerage firm ConSors Discount
Broker AG.

According to a report from AFX News, Postbank chairman Wolf von
Schimmelman withdrew his bid as he expected someone else to win.

Consors has been up for sale since November during the near
collapse of its parent company SchmidtBank, which was rescued
from bankruptcy by a consortium of Germany's largest banks,
including HVB, Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, Dresdner Bank and the
Bavarian savings banks.

Schmidtbank holds a 65% stake in Consors.  
    
The online broker is valued at around 450 million euros ($398
million).


=========
I T A L Y
=========


FIAT SPA: Plans to Merge Insurance Business With Fondiaria, Sai
---------------------------------------------------------------

Turin-based car manufacturer Fiat is seeking to become the
country's second biggest insurer with the proposed merger of the
group's Toro insurance company with two other Italian insurers,
Fondiaria and Sai, reports the Financial Times.

The move is part of an aggressive diversification strategy in the
service business to make it less dependent on the automotive
cycle.

Fiat chairman Paolo Fresco said that with the acquisition, the
company could grow faster, reaching annual sales of around 20
billion euros ($17.6 billion).

Fiat intends to make 3 billion euros of disposals over the next
two years to help reduce debt, which stood at 7.5 billion euros
as of September. Fiat is understood to be considering selling its
Teksid foundry business and floating its Comau factory automation
unit.


===================
L U X E M B O U R G
===================


CARRIER1 INTERNATIONAL: Names Ex-WorldCom Chief as EVP
------------------------------------------------------

Pan-European bandwidth provider Carrier1 has appointed former
WorldCom/UUNet executive Per Selbekk as Executive Vice President
and Chief Information Officer immediately to complete the
restructuring of the company's senior management team.

Selbekk will focus initially on consolidating Carrier1's legacy
IT infrastructure and make it ready to scale for future growth,
as well as reviewing and consolidating the company's IT personnel
department.

Carrier1 also appointed Sanjeev (Bobby) Sarin, formerly Managing
Director and Chief Technical Officer at Star 21, as Executive
Vice President of Operations.

Sarin will focus on streamlining operations, further reducing
costs, developing an infrastructure that is "flexible and can
scale", and most importantly can deliver products "cheaper and
faster" than anybody else in the market.

Carrier1 in December said that it might miss an interest payment
this year on about $236 million in debt after bondholders
rejected the company's offer to buy back its bonds. It has
struggled after prices for its services slumped and growth in
data transmission slowed.

In the third quarter of 2001, the company posted a loss of $495
million. It had $36.3 million in net cash in September, down from
$162.2 million a year earlier.

Contact Keith Johnson at telephone +44 20 7001 6357 or via email  
keith.Johnson@carrier1.com for more information.


=====================
N E T H E R L A N D S
=====================


KPN NV: Buys Back EUR175MM Bonds
--------------------------------

The Hague-based telecommunications company Royal KPN NV has cut
its debt via the re-purchase of 175 million euros of its own
bonds, Het Financieele Dagblad reported.

Of the original total of 3.5 billion euros in bonds outstanding
in 2002, the figure now stands at 3.325 billion euros.

KPN is also in the process of selling all its assets that are
outside of its core operations in the Benelux countries and
Germany in order to trim its debt.

German-owned broker Deutsche Bank earlier estimated KPN's net
consolidated debt to be around 16 billion euros at year-end 2001,
compared with 22.3 billion euros in September.


===========
N O R W A Y
===========


KVAERNER ASA: To Hear Over-Production Fine Ruling in February
-------------------------------------------------------------

Kvaerner said that the EU Court of First Instance in Luxembourg
will give its judgment on February 28, relating to the
justification for penalties paid by the Anglo-Norwegian
engineering, construction and shipbuilding group in 2000 for
alleged over-production at its German shipyard, Kvaerner Warnow.  

During 1999 and 2000, the EU Commission fined 116.6 million
Deutsche marks for alleged over-production by Kvaerner Warnow
Shipyard in 1997 and 1998.

The penalty was fully paid by the Group in the first half of
2000, but later contested the fine.

The European Union's executive commission approved early last
week the acquisition of Kvaerner ASA's shipbuilding activities by
rival Aker Maritime ASA.

Kvaerner staved off bankruptcy in November by agreeing to merge
with its rival Aker.

For more information, contact Paul Emberley, Vice President Group
Communications, at telephone +44 (0)20 7339 1035 or  +44 (0)7768
813090 or via e-mail at paul.emberley@kvaerner.com


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


ELEKTRIM SA: Vivendi Looks to Sell Elektrim Stake
-------------------------------------------------

Vivendi Universal of France is looking to sell its investment in
Elektrim Telekomunikacja as financial problems in the Polish
company mounted, the Financial Times reported, citing banking
sources.

Vivendi holds 51% of Elektrim Telekomunikacja, while Elektrim has  
49%.

A Lazard spokeswoman confirmed that the bank was working on
several prospective buyers of the media group's 48% stake in the
Polish company's telecoms unit Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa, but
would not comment on the reports.

Elektrim's fortunes took a sharp downturn in December when it
defaulted on a EUR480 million bond payment. A Warsaw court is now
mediating debt-rescheduling negotiations with creditors, but some
are threatening to push the company into bankruptcy.


NETIA HOLDINGS: Recommends No Resolutions at EGM
------------------------------------------------

Warsaw-based Netia Holdings S.A., Poland's largest alternative
fixed-line telecommunications services provider, said Sunday it
would recommend to close the company's Extraordinary General
Meeting of Shareholders on February 5 without adopting any
resolutions with respect to the items contemplated by the agenda
of the meeting.

Previously, Netia had announced that due to ongoing discussions
with bondholders concerning a consensual reorganization of
Netia's balance sheet, the Management Board would announce its
recommendation on resolutions to be voted on prior to the
Shareholders' Meeting.

If the negotiations with the bondholders were not well advanced
in due time, the Management Board stated it would recommend not
to adopt any resolutions concerning the capital increase at the
Shareholders' Meeting.

The next Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders will be on
February 19, 2002.

Netia Holdings in September reported a loss of 1.87 billion
Polish zlotys (US$450.85 million), which exceeds the aggregate of
the spare capital, the reserve capital and one-third of the
company's 1.74 billion Polish zlotys (US$419.52 million) share
capital.

It defaulted on swap obligations in December and on certain debt
payments two weeks ago.

Contact Anna Kuchnio, Investor Relations, at telephone +48-22-
330-2061 for more information.


===========
S W E D E N
===========


LM ERICSSON: Cancels Dividend After Record Losses
-------------------------------------------------

Stockholm-based telecom equipment maker Ericsson scrapped its
dividend as it warned of continued big losses in the first
quarter and said it had yet to see signs of a market recovery,
the Financial Times reported.

The group recorded an SKr21.1 billion ($2 billion) loss for the
year, or SKr30.3 billion after including restructuring costs and
exceptional gains. Ericsson posted an SKr5.1 billion in the final
quarter.

SonyEricsson, the group's joint venture for handsets that only
started operating in October, already made a SKr1.4 billion loss,
of which Ericsson's share is 50%.

Analysts said it would be hard for Ericsson to meet its target of
a 5% operating margin this year, after it predicted a first
quarter loss of around SKr4.9 billion and a continued difficult
market in the second quarter.

FT added that last year's restructuring, including the loss of
22,000 jobs, would improve results of Ericsson by 20 billion
Swedish kronor.


=====================
S W I T Z E R L A N D
=====================


SWISSAIR GROUP: No Longer Swiss Air Carrier
-------------------------------------------

Swissair Group is no longer Switzerland's air carrier as a new
name will be announced on Thursday, Swissinfo reported yesterday.

The board of Crossair, the carrier that will replace Swissair,
decided on the name of the airline some two weeks ago but has
refused to unveil it until legal enquiries are carried out to
check that the brand is not already registered.

Most analysts expect the name to involve some combination of the
words Swiss and Air. Possible names are Air Swiss or Swiss
Airlines.

The new airline will consist of the existing Crossair fleet of 75
aircraft, plus 52 Swissair planes, 26 of which will cover inter-
continental routes.

The Swissair brand was seriously devalued last year by the two-
day grounding of the fleet.


SWISSAIR GROUP: Pays Corti SFr12.5MM to Take CEO Job
----------------------------------------------------

Former SAirGroup CEO Mario Corti was promised 12.5 million Swiss
francs ($7.3 million) up-front payment when he took the job at
Swissair, the Swiss carrier that filed for bankruptcy protection
in October.

According to a report from SwissInfo, Swiss newspaper
SonntagsZeitung said that it was not publicly known that Corti
had made a multi-million-franc agreement for an advance payment.

In return for Swissair's financial provisions, Corti agreed to
work for the airline for five years, as he attempted to resolve
its financial crises.

It was also reported that Swissair executive Eric Honegger
received 2.5 million Swiss francs when he left the group, so is
former Swissair chief Philippe Bruggisser, who received about 2.5
million Swiss francs.

The sums, however, are controversial since former employees do
not have enough funds to cover their social benefits plan. Many
employees who retired early are still waiting for payments.


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


CELLTALK GROUP: To Appoint Administrator
----------------------------------------

Celltalk Group PLC has decided it would ask the court to appoint
an administrator to help restructure its business.

The decision results from poor trading figures and there are no
sufficient resources currently available to meet the cost of
restructuring the business to a profitable level.

Earlier, Celltalk Group announced disappointing Christmas sales
and said that continued shortage of fashionable handsets was
causing concern. Last March, it arranged a 1 million pound loan
facility with Orange SA, its largest supplier.

The Manchester-based Celltalk Group sells airtime contracts, on
behalf of network service providers and mobile phones. The
company is now valued at 2.9 million pounds, from 37 million
pounds two years ago.

Celltalk recently cut staff numbers by between 15% and 20%,
bringing numbers down to around 100.


CONSIGNIA: Will Reveal Cost-Cut Plans Soon
------------------------------------------

State-owned post office group Consignia will announce in the next
two weeks its plan on how to achieve the GBP1.2 billion of cost
cuts needed to stay afloat, the Scotsman newspaper reported.

The plan could derail negotiations with unions who were expecting
a longer period to negotiate potential redundancies.

Earlier this month, a Consignia plan was leaked which talked of
30,000 job cuts, or 15% of its workforce.

Consignia's poor performance has brought the company to report in
November a fivefold increase in first-half operating losses
accruing to 100 million pounds. It is struggling to slash 1.2
billion pounds ($1.7 billion) from its eight billion pound cost
base in order to restore profitability and become more
competitive.

The Consignia board has hired PricewaterhouseCoopers to advise on
the future of the group, while UBS Warburg is advising on the
future of the post office network.


MILLENNIUM DOME: Will Release Previously Suppressed Dome File  
-------------------------------------------------------------

Almost a year after the completion of the disaster-stricken
attraction Millenium Dome, a damaging report into the Dome fiasco
will be published next week, the Times newspaper reported
Saturday.

The opposition MPs allege that the Government previously
suppressed a report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) when
the visitor attraction was finished in May 2001 for fear of
opening a can of worms in the midst of a brewing general
elections.

Conservative MP and chairman of the Commons Public Accounts
Committee Edward Leigh decided to release the said report on
Friday.

The report will warn the government against getting involved in
such complex commercial negotiations as the Dome project.

The findings could influence other public private partnerships as
Railtrack, the London Underground and other private
collaborations in health and education.

Leigh decided that the PAC report should be published in October
when he took over David Davis, the former Conservative Party
chairman.

It took Leigh four months to get the approval of eight labor
members of the PAC for the report's publication.

The Dome closed it doors to the public on New Year's Eve last
year after it received only a little over half the predicted 12
million visitors.


NTL INCORPORATED: Considers Sale of Premium TV to Cut Debt
----------------------------------------------------------

Debt-laden cable television operator NTL Inc. may sell its
Premium TV unit at an undisclosed sum as part of a plan to reduce
its about $17.5 billion of debt, reports Bloomberg.

NTL's debt is split roughly equally between bank loans and bonds.

Premium TV includes holdings in a number of British soccer teams,
including 9.9% of Leicester City, 5.5% of Middlesbrough and
options on a 9.9% share of Aston Villa. It also remains a member
of a group that bought the pay-per-view rights to the Premier
League, the top U.K. soccer league, for the next three years.

NTL's bankers last week called on Chief Executive Officer J.
Barclay Knapp to sell his 51% stake in the company to avoid
bankruptcy and resign as soon as new backers can be found.

In December, NTL said it would axe 8,800 jobs, freeze managers'
salaries and change its focus from winning new customers to
keeping its 3 million existing subscribers as it seeks to
preserve cash.


NTL INCORPORATED: To Begin Debt Talks Soon
------------------------------------------

NTL Inc. will begin talks with bondholders this week aimed at
cutting its billion-dollar debt.

NTL says it will appoint Swiss bank Credit Suisse First Boston to
handle the negotiations.

CSFB and other advisers, including JP Morgan Chase and Morgan
Stanley, expect to spend eight months negotiating with NTL's
bondholders, shareholders and two groups of bank creditors,
including Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays, whose loans are
secured against NTL's substantial British cable assets.

Holders of NTL's about $11.5 billion of junk-rated bonds may be
offered equity in exchange for writing off between $4 billion and
$5 billion of debt, BNP Paribas SA credit analyst Aizaz Shaikh
said.

NTL will also hand 25 to 50% of the company to a new investor in
return for as much as $2 billion. Microsoft Corp., cable and
media giant AOL Time Warner Inc. and AT&T Corp.'s Liberty Media
Corp. are tipped as possible NTL investors.

The company has failed to find a buyer for its television
transmitters and Swiss cable assets and struggled to raise
revenue enough to cover interest payments, which totaled $355.7
million in the third quarter.

The company owes about $111.5 million in interest on its bonds in
February, $19 million in March and about $92 million in April,
according to Bloomberg data.

NTL's shares rose 2.6%, or 1 cent, to 40 cents on Friday, valuing
the company at $110.7 million.


RAILTRACK GROUP: To Recruit 250 Engineers
------------------------------------------

Railtrack plc, the rail network operator that collapsed into
administrator in October, aims to recruit 250 engineers within
the next 18 months to fill vital gaps in an industry that
currently has between 1,500 and 2,000 engineering vacancies.

According to a report from The Times newspaper, about 20 of the
posts may be filled from abroad, while 30 people from the
construction, mining and steel industries have been identified to
fill the vacancies for track engineers and ten are already
undergoing a six-month training program.

A further 50 engineers will be selected from the 500 applications
received in response to a national recruitment campaign late last
year. The company also plans to recruit 40 fresh engineering
graduates during the year, the report added.

The staff turnover in Railtrack has increased since the company
was put into administration. It is understood that the attrition
rate has gone up by 20% in the recent months, with between 50 and
60 leaving every month.


REECE PLC: Administrators in Refinancing Talks
----------------------------------------------

Administrators Andrew Menzies and Neil Tombs are in talks for the
refinancing of Reece, which manufactures capital equipment for
the ceramic and glassware industries, distributes cycles and
cycle components, manufactures door panels and distributes
industrial fasteners.

The refinancing talks, according to a report from the AFX News,
may or may not result in a satisfactory outcome for the company
and also may or may not result in the need to propose a formal
voluntary arrangement and/or in funds becoming available for
creditors and/or members.

The joint administrators were appointed in November.


UPF-THOMPSON: Land Rover Seeks Court Order for Supplies Dispute
---------------------------------------------------------------

Carmaker Land Rover is seeking further injunction from the High
Court to prevent receivers of Wolverhampton-based chassis
manufacturers UPF-Thompson from stopping the supplies of chassis,
reports the Financial Times.

The move follows Land Rover's failure to reach a deal with KPMG,
the auditing firm and receivers for UPF, over its demand for an
increase in chassis prices and a goodwill payment of 35 million
pounds ($49.8 million) in return for continued deliveries.

Land Rover has warned it will be forced to suspend output of its
Discovery model and lay off more than 1,400 workers if it cannot
source chassis from the British engineering group.

UPF, which called in receivers in December after its debts hit 50
million pounds, double its annual sales, is the sole chassis
supplier for Land Rover's Discovery model. It also supplies
General Motors' UK arm Vauxhall, DaimlerChrysler and Rolls-Royce
Motor Cars.

                                   ***********

        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 Maria Lourdes Reyes, Editors.

Copyright 2002.  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 240/629-3300.


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