Difficult search for investors in bankruptcy
Bankruptcy administrator Holger Leichtle was looking for an investor for the two plants on the Kindel and in Witzenhausen in Hesse for around nine months. The starting position was difficult: a company that mainly produces engine parts for classic combustion engines had to survive the structural change towards electromobility. In addition, the second bankruptcy, empty cash registers, an outdated machinery. Nevertheless, Leichtle was very confident in the meantime. Productivity was increased, machine run times extended, processes became more efficient. More than 500 investors were approached, and there was serious interest in several. They had negotiated with customers about guaranteed purchase quantities and higher prices. The claims would have been difficult to accept anyway for the customers, says Leichtle, but then Corona also came. In this situation, the customers would have decided not to accept the “considerable demands of investors for the future”. Then the investors jumped off.
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There is no money for continued operations at JD Norman
However, since the company is currently generating high losses, it cannot continue without an investor and without money. According to Leichtles, seven-figure investments would be necessary. After all, the so-called “continuation agreement” with the main customers could be extended by two months. It now secures wages and production until the end of September. He very much regrets the end, says the insolvency administrator and praises the “enormous effort” and the “very committed workforce”. Despite all the uncertainties, work was carried out on time and of high quality.
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Union: 3,500 jobs lost in the industry
The end is bitter not only for the employees, but also for the region. “West Thuringia is drowning,” IG Metall had written on its banner as a “future forecast”. The first representative of the union in Eisenach, Uwe Laubach, sees his warnings confirmed. For five years now, IG Metall has been drawing attention to the structural change in the automotive and supplier industry, to the high price pressure that manufacturers have put on the supplier companies. The West Thuringia region, which is so dependent on the industry, could be at risk of de-industrialization in the worst case, said Laubach.
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According to him, 3,500 jobs at car and supplier companies have been lost in recent years. And JD Norman will certainly not be the last case, Laubach fears. He appealed to the state government to think more about the West Thuringia region. A vision of the future must be developed with industrial alternatives beyond the automotive industry.
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