PS giant in distress

KTM has a mountain of debt of more than €1.9 billion

KTM AG and two other companies of the motorcycle manufacturer have filed for insolvency.

(Bild: Scharinger Daniel)

Black Friday" is considered the holiday of bargain hunters, but for motorcycle manufacturer KTM it turned into Black Friday this year. The company from Mattighofen (Upper Austria) filed for insolvency - as announced three days earlier. Experts put the mountain of debt at between two and three billion euros. A restructuring is planned.

On Tuesday afternoon, Pierer Mobility had announced that KTM AG and two companies (KTM Components GmbH, KTM Forschungs & Entwicklungs GmbH) were preparing an application for restructuring proceedings with self-administration and would be filing on Friday. Now the insolvency application has been filed!

3519 employees in the three companies
What does it say? The Austrian Creditreform Association listed the most important details at lunchtime: In KTM AG, 1600 creditors and 2380 employees are affected, the liabilities amount to 1.8 billion euros (in the event of liquidation, the sum would rise to 2.1 billion euros). The liabilities of KTM Components GmbH amount to 57.69 million euros (68.97 million euros in the event of liquidation), while the liabilities of KTM Forschungs und Entwicklungs GmbH amount to 96.16 million euros (118.4 million euros in the event of liquidation).

According to the insolvency applications, a total of 3519 employees are affected and the mountain of debt in the event of a successful restructuring is 1.953 billion euros. The AKV estimates the amount of liabilities at 2.7 billion euros. Experts put the liabilities at between 2 and 3 billion euros. An enormous sum.

"I expect clear answers from KTM"
Many people cannot understand how the motorcycle manufacturer, which made good profits for years and raced to record sales, has now become insolvent. "I expect clear answers from KTM as to how this could have happened, that it has now gone from a fairly good earnings situation and good prospects to restructuring proceedings so quickly," says Martin Kocher, the Federal Minister of Labor.

Martin Kocher expects "clear answers from KTM as to how this could have happened"

(Bild: REUTERS)

Johannes Kopf, CEO of AMS Austria, made similar comments in ZiB 2 on ORF: "In spring, profits from last year were still being paid out, in summer the owner bought another company, and now insolvency is being filed. Many employees at KTM, but also people who live in Mattighofen and the surrounding area, for whom this company is so important, cannot understand what has happened."

Production at a standstill in January and February
Pierer Mobility AG, the parent company of KTM AG, first spoke about the far-reaching restructuring that would be necessary at the motorcycle manufacturer on November 12. A short time later, it became clear that 300 workers in production would have to go, that production would even be shut down in January and February 2025, and that cuts would also be made in administration - with as yet unknown consequences.

European restructuring proceedings were opened against Pierer Industrie AG on Tuesday. This had been initiated in order to avert insolvency by extending the maturities of bonds and promissory note loans.

650 million euros would have been necessary
Over the past two and a half weeks, KTM AG had been trying to obtain interim financing. According to Kreditschutzverband 1870, fresh money amounting to 650 million euros would have been required. However, no agreement could be reached.