Austrian interests trying to secure the future for insolvent machinery manufacturer Battenfeld Injection Moulding (Kottingbrunn / Austria; www.battenfeld-imt.com) have reported an initial success – see Plasteurope.com of 09.01.2008 and 08.01.2008. Austria’s NÖ Hypo-Bank has agreed to provide funds to keep the company afloat for three months. Lower Austria state governor Erwin Pröll said this should be enough time to find a buyer for the company. Without naming names, he added that “there are a number of serious contenders.”

The bank has agreed to allow Battenfeld a credit range of EUR 15m, the amount it is believed to require to stay afloat until the end of March. According to Pröll, Adcuram (Munich / Germany; www.adcuram.com) – the sole owner of Battenfeld prior to its declaration of insolvency on 3 January 2008 and its principal creditor – is prepared to forgive some of the company’s debt. What’s more, the carved-out service activities are to be reintegrated and Battenfeld’s patents restored. This, said the governor, should make the company more attractive to buyers.

Earlier, Adcuram managing director Florian Meise informed insolvency administrator Michael Lentsch that the private equity company would make a “substantial contribution” to restructuring the machinery manufacturer. Lentsch plans to present a “concrete concept” for a turnaround at a creditor’s meeting scheduled for 11 January 2008. Some 472 Battenfeld employees and 175 suppliers with 3,000 employees are affected by the insolvency.