Positive signs for warehouse partner restructuring

The initial ruling by restructuring experts gives hope to the troubled Munich-based agricultural and building materials group BayWa. In a first draft, the experts concluded that BayWa can be “restructured under certain conditions” and can regain its competitiveness in the medium term, the company, which has a significant stake in parent warehouse company RWA in Austria, said on its website Tuesday night with.

However, the group’s restructuring will take years. This includes “numerous operational savings measures,” for which CEO Markus Bollinger has already prepared the workforce, and the sale of individual business areas. This is likely to include, first and foremost, a majority stake in solar subsidiary BayWa re, which former minority owner Energy Infrastructure Partners (EIP), from Switzerland, has expressed an interest in. Their solar and wind businesses are capital intensive and have ballooned BayWa’s debt mountain to more than five billion euros in recent years. BayWa only wants to continue trading in solar modules, Reuters reported.

Private funds are missing

The BayWa Group, which is dominated by the cooperative sector, slipped into a serious liquidity crisis in the summer due to high interest payments and requested the report. This is a prerequisite for BayWa’s continued creditworthiness. Banks and owners – including Austria’s Raiffeisen Agrar Invest – have bridged the gap with a financing package worth EUR 550 million. However, a permanent solution should be found by the end of the year at the latest. The loans are limited until the end of September, but can be extended for up to three months.

The draft restructuring report is the basis for discussions with the banks. BayWa explained that “negotiations with the financing partners (…) regarding the concept of restructuring and reorganization of the financing are continuing constructively.” The board assumes that they can be successfully completed. The final renewal report is not expected until after the financing is completed.