Date on Friday

Thousands of creditors: KTM makes the court tremble

The regional court in Ried im Innkreis is preparing for a large number of creditors to attend the hearings. The jury courtroom has been reserved.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Daniel Scharinger (2))

They have routine in dealing with serious offenses as well as insolvency proceedings - but before the first court hearing for KTM, there is a lot of trembling at the regional court in Ried im Innkreis. The reason: nobody can predict how many of the almost 2,500 creditors will attend the first reporting day hearings on Friday.

Friday will be the first fateful day for KTM in the battle for its future. This is because the three report meetings will each focus on how the restructuring administrators assess the situation at the motorcycle manufacturer. Can the three companies continue as a going concern?

The announcement on Tuesday evening that the search for investors is underway worldwide and that Citigroup is accompanying the process as a partner gave the company some breathing space, but it still needs the approval of the administrators and the court to continue.

Almost 2500 creditors in total
The three KTM hearings on Friday were scheduled every two hours: the hearing for KTM AG starts at 9 a.m., followed two hours later by the hearing for KTM Components GmbH and then at 1 p.m. by the hearing for KTM Forschungs und Entwicklungs GmbH. The court officials are not trembling in view of the open outcome of the hearings, but because of the uncertainty as to how many of the almost 2,500 creditors will attend the hearings.

"It is not yet possible to estimate how many parties to the proceedings will attend the hearing," said spokesperson Stefan Kiesl in a press release, in which he also made it clear that camera teams are not permitted in the court building on Friday. However, video and radio recordings may be made in front of the court building, he said.

Normally, creditors are represented by lawyers or the creditor protection associations (KSV1870, Creditreform, AKV), which is why court hearings for insolvencies tend to take place on a small scale. In any case, the court has already made room for KTM and scheduled the hearings in the jury courtroom. "This is our largest courtroom," says Kiesl.

Video transmission also possible in additional room
An additional room has also been reserved in which the hearings can be transmitted via video. A separate entrance to the building will also be opened for people who are allowed to attend the sessions. This serves to relieve the main entrance, it is emphasized.