Polar Group in Hofheim under protective umbrella: Good order and liquidity development

Under the protective umbrella, the Hofheim-based Polar Group was able to win many new orders and enters 2023 with a good order backlog. The salaries for the employees of the world market leader for cutting and packaging machines will be taken over by the employment agency until the end of December this year. Following the intensive discussions with investors to date, the management is confident that it will be able to maintain the business.

The preliminary creditors' committee of the Polar Group, in which customers, suppliers and employees are represented, unanimously decided on November 25 to extend the preliminary protective shield proceedings until December 31. During the protective shield proceedings since the end of August, it has been possible to continue the business operations of Adolf Mohr Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG, Polar-Mohr Maschinenvertriebsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and Dienst Verpackungstechnik GmbH to be stabilized. Therefore, the group is able to pay the employees' salaries for August and September from its own resources and the employment agency will take over the three months' salaries until the end of December of the year.

"Thanks to the good development under the protective umbrella, we can postpone the opening of the proceedings to the beginning of January. With customers, suppliers and employees supporting the court-supervised reorganization, Polar Group can send positive signs of life to the market. Initial restructuring measures have been successfully implemented. We are holding intensive talks with both companies from the industry and investors from outside the industry in the ongoing investor process. Our goal is a sustainable corporate restructuring and the preservation of the operations," explained attorney Dr. Robert Schiebe, General Representative of the Polar Group.

CFO Thomas Raab, who has been acting on an interim basis up to now and was appointed commercial managing director of Polar Group on November 1, is managing the M&A process vis-à-vis advisors and investors. Several interested parties have already formed a picture of the business, viewed detailed information and submitted indicative offers. These interested parties have different acquisition concepts, including concepts for the 50,000 square meter site in downtown Hofheim. The management, which has agreed to maintain confidentiality with the investors, is primarily concerned with preserving the company and its jobs. Final negotiations with the investors are expected to last until early 2023.

"Due to its unique quality, Polar has won numerous new orders for cutting machines and peripherals in the printing industry. Polar's order books are full, and we are well utilized for the first half of 2023. There are also signs of a slight easing in the delivery situation. We have now been able to deliver several almost completed machines to customers, where, for example, electronic components were missing and therefore had to be stored for months. Therefore, our liquidity has stabilized and we are looking confidently into the next year," says Michael Wombacher, Managing Director of the Polar Group.