Around 525 million euros

Pierer

Leoni AG is based in Nuremberg and is a cable and wiring system specialist.

(Bild: LEONI)

Bonds and promissory note loans are to be repaid in full, only later - this is the restructuring plan of Pierer Industrie AG, which the creditors will vote on in Wels on Thursday. The money is also to come from the sale of shares in Leoni AG. KTM owner Stefan Pierer has already parted with the majority of the cable giant. However, the 525 million euro deal is still not through.

In August 2023, when all still seemed well at KTM, Stefan Pierer made people sit up and take notice when he took over Leoni AG, which was teetering on the brink of insolvency. In the course of rescuing the German cable giant, the entrepreneur injected 150 million euros and also took over creditors' claims amounting to 708 million euros through a company. The reward: the acquisition of 100 percent of the shares in Leoni, including its almost 100,000 employees at the time.

525 million euro deal was finalized in September 2024
Thirteen months later, the surprise coup: on September 17, 2024, it was announced that Pierer would sell 50.1 percent of Leoni and receive 205.4 million euros in return. The buyer of the majority: Luxshare, a Chinese group that is also an Apple supplier and manufactures iPhones and Airpods. The Asians also secured a subsidiary in the Pierer-Leoni empire, namely Leoni Kabel GmbH. That was worth another 320 million euros to them.

The picture from September 2024 documenting the change of ownership at Leoni: Stefan Pierer (left), Chen Wang from Luxshare and Leoni CEO Klaus Rinnerberger.

(Bild: LEONI AG)

But even five months later, the deal is still not through. The EU Commission has approved the change of ownership. However, a Leoni spokesperson confirms that it needs the green light from various countries. And that takes time. The sales process is therefore still not complete.

Shareholdings could be sold
Leoni plays an important role in the restructuring plan that Pierer Industrie AG submitted to the Wels Regional Court at the end of December. This is because in order to repay the bonds and promissory note loans of EUR 247.5 million by the end of 2026 and the end of 2027, the company, which is something like the head of the KTM Group, must raise liquid funds. To this end, money is to flow from the shareholders on the one hand, while the profit participation right relating to the sale of shares in Leoni AG is also expected to generate cash on the other. Further funds can also be generated through the strategic networking of SHW AG in Germany and Pankl Racing Systems AG in Austria, it is reported. There is even talk of selling shareholdings. However, nothing has happened in this respect yet.

Proceedings serve to avert insolvency
A few days before the opening of insolvency proceedings, Pierer Industrie AG had filed an application for the opening of European restructuring proceedings at KTM AG, KTM Components GmbH and KTM Forschungs & Entwicklungs GmbH in order to avert insolvency.