Wurst Stahlbau insolvency self-administration proceedings, Digi Mart USA News (Bersenbrück, Lower Saxony, Germany): The Lower Saxony company Wurst Stahlbau of Bersenbrück has filed for insolvency proceedings in self-administration. More than 280 jobs are affected.
Wurst Stahlbau GmbH, based in Bersenbrück in the Osnabrück district, has applied to open insolvency proceedings in self-administration. The family business, founded in 1966, is an established name in commercial steel construction and turnkey construction and employs more than 280 people.
Despite the court-supervised restructuring application, the company intends to continue operations at all locations without interruption.
The company traces its roots back nearly six decades. In 1966, Hildegard and Friedmut Wurst laid the foundation for today’s industrial operation with a small metalworking shop.
Over the decades, Wurst Stahlbau developed into a specialist in demanding steel construction projects and turnkey commercial buildings with a reach beyond the region. In addition to its headquarters in Bersenbrück, the company maintains branches in Bremen and Düsseldorf.
According to the company, the business processes about 20,000 tonnes of steel per year and recently achieved annual total output of around 100 million euros. The move into restructuring affects the region of western Lower Saxony, where, according to Chamber of Industry and Commerce data, more than 300 insolvencies in one year have weighed on the economy in the Osnabrück-Emsland area.
In a self-administration procedure, management retains operational control of the company. The current managing directors, Christian Wurst, Michael Wurst and Thomas Wurst, remain fully in office and continue to lead the company during the restructuring phase.
The management is supported by restructuring expert Nils Averbeck of Michels Restrukturierung GmbH, who has been brought into the proceedings as a general authorized representative.
To protect creditor interests, the responsible local court also appointed attorney Gerrit Hölzle of the law firm Görg as preliminary administrator. Together with the restructuring advisers, a viable restructuring plan is to be developed to secure the company’s continued existence and the preservation of jobs over the long term.
For employees, customers and business partners, the immediate position is that ongoing business operations are to continue without restriction during the restructuring.
Alongside operational continuation, Wurst Stahlbau’s leadership has launched a structured investor process. Various strategic options are being examined as part of this process.
These include the entry of partners through a minority or majority stake, as well as a full takeover by an investor.
The crisis at Wurst Stahlbau comes amid a difficult period for the construction sector, in which other local construction companies have also become insolvent as high construction costs and financing conditions shape the market environment. The aim of the self-administration proceedings in Bersenbrück is now to economically stabilize the steel construction specialist and position it for the future.
