HeiterBlick GmbH, the medium-sized specialist provider of customised light rail vehicles and trams based in Leipzig, has applied for insolvency proceedings under self-administration, which have been granted by Leipzig District Court. Self-administration is an insolvency procedure in which the managing director assumes the main tasks of an insolvency administrator under the supervision of restructuring experts. The aim is to reorganise the company and make it viable in the long term.
HeietrBlick explains that the after-effects of the coronavirus crisis with the resulting lockdowns, absences and the necessary organisational adjustments as the cause of the company’s current situation. Market distortions as a result of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine also played a role. This led to lower availability of raw materials and significant price increases on the procurement side. In combination with the project delays resulting from the disrupted supply chains, it has become increasingly difficult for the company to generate stable and sufficient liquidity at all times from long-term orders, some of which were signed before the crisis.
HeiterBlick reports that important stakeholders have pledged their support for the reorganisation. In addition, the Federal Labour Agency will cover the wages and salaries of the company’s 250 employees for three months. Business operations will continue in full and unchanged during the reorganisation process – production of vehicles on order continues.
HeiterBlick began 100 years ago in the Leipzig district of the same name as the main workshop of the transport company. The company is still based in Leipzig today. Since 2004, the company has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe GmbH as Leoliner Fahrzeug-Bau Leipzig GmbH (FBL) and was given its current name following the subsequent privatisation in 2007. The company had built vehicles for Halberstadt, Hannover and Bielefeld, among others.
The current order book includes:
- Dortmund Vamos: 24 + 2 from option in delivery, 8 more as new orders
- Würzburg GT-F: 18 in delivery + options 9
In consortium with Kiepe – LEIWAG:
- Görlitz NGT G (L): 8 + 1 at Hörmann as hydrogen tram
- Zwickau NGT Z (L): 6 + options 12
- Leipzig NGT12+ (XXL): 25 + options 112 NGT12+ (XXL) + 18 NGT (L)
