The business climate for plastics industry OEM automotive suppliers is showing no signs of improvement. On the contrary, Germany´s IBS Brocke (D-51597 Morsbach-Lichtenberg; www.ibs-brocke.de) began insolvency proceedings on 8 July. The company, which manufactures injection moulded and thermoformed automotive parts, employs 1,200 at four German sites and in international joint ventures. Although it had faced liquidity problems in the recent past, the reason for the insolvency despite full order books is not yet clear. Preliminary receiver Wolfgang Kalker said he hopes to keep production going and the company afloat. At the end of May, employees agreed to forego pay in order to turn the business around, but the family shareholders, who hold 25% of the company, balked.

Just when the patience of its OEM creditors was about to run out, the German Peguform group (D-79621 Bötzingen; www.peguform.de), which is also insolvent, apparently has found a buyer in New York private equity group Cerebrus. However, reports say the investor – who is believed to be interested in all of Peguform´s worldwide businesses – is demanding pay cuts and more flexible working conditions, in order to reduce German operating costs by EUR 40m annually. The jobs of some 700 of the company´s 5,550 employees are said to be endangered. The deal is seen as likely to close in August, with the takeover slated for September of this year.