Exploding energy and feedstock costs in conjunction with a drop in sales caused by the semiconductor crisis continue to impact a wide range of firms and have hit the three German companies from the automotive segment of Poland’s Boryszew (Sochaczew; www.boryszew.com.pl): Theysohn Kunststoff (Salzgitter), Theysohn Formenbau (Langenhagen), and the holding company Icos (Salzgitter) have filed for insolvency in self-administration. On 13 October 2021, Braunschweig District Court appointed attorney Silvio Höfer of the German law firm Anchor (Ulm; www.anchor.eu) as provisional administrator.

Business operations of the three units of Boryszew Automotive Plastics (BAP) are to continue in Salzgitter and Langenhagen, and the approximately 300 employees have already been informed about the measures. No other BAP companies are affected.

Tobias Hartwig of Schultze & Braun (Achern / Germany; www.schultze-braun.de) has joined the management team for the restructuring. In his function as chief restructuring officer, he is to steer and support the reorganisation of the companies in an advisory and operational capacity.

In the weeks to come, he said he intends to draw up a restructuring plan and coordinate it with the creditors. “I am confident that we will be able to reach a good solution for all three companies in order to master the current challenges and make them fit for the future”, Hartwig said. “This liquidity bottleneck has arisen because, on the cost side, sharply increased energy costs and feedstock prices have placed a heavy burden on the companies, and on the revenue side, the global shortage of semiconductors has caused our automotive customers to significantly postpone their planned call-offs. The consequence for us as a supplier was a sharp drop in sales.”

Theysohn Kunststoff manufactures large plastic components for the interior and exterior of motor vehicles. Theysohn Formenbau produces tools and moulds, and its range of services includes the electroplating and painting of plastic parts, with Icos acting as holding company for both. Boryszew acquired the three companies in 2011. Theysohn Extrusion (Salzgitter; www.theysohn.com) and its units in Germany, Austria, India, Russia and the US were excluded from the deal and continues to operate separately.

Theysohn Kunststoff is not the first automotive supplier to file for insolvency due to the current market situation. In Germany, other such companies include Bolta-Werke, the Heinze Group, and the local subsidiary of the US-based firm Henniges Automotive (see Plasteurope.com of 05.12.2008).