Press Release: Agfa-Gevaert on the insolvency filing of AgfaPhoto
GmbH
Agfa-Gevaert announced today that it was informed
of the insolvency filing by AgfaPhoto GmbH. Agfa-Gevaert is fully prepared to
co-operate with the insolvency receiver once appointed and all parties
concerned.
Effective November 2, 2004,
Agfa-Gevaert sold its consumer imaging business to a group of investors in a
management buy out/in. Since then the consumer imaging business has been
operated through a group of companies under the name of AgfaPhoto. The AgfaPhoto
group is a private group of companies owned by management, NannO
Beteiligungsholding and a small number of financial investors.
Agfa-Gevaert provides AgfaPhoto group companies
with distribution, order fulfillment, after sales and other services until the
end of 2005.
In addition, at the time of
the management buy out/in on November 2, 2004, Agfa-Gevaert granted a secured
vendor loan for the full purchase price. Based on Agfa Gevaert's audited
financial statement, the purchase price was set at 112 million Euros, which is
still subject to an audit of the closing financials by the purchaser. The vendor
loan is fully secured by a lease portfolio held by AgfaPhoto Holding GmbH, the
parent company of the AgfaPhoto group. AgfaPhoto Holding GmbH is not implicated
in the insolvency filing of AgfaPhoto GmbH. Agfa-Gevaert therefore does not
expect the insolvency filing by AgfaPhoto to have a material effect on
Agfa-Gevaert.
Agfa-Gevaert regrets this
development for AgfaPhoto GmbH but is hopeful, that in the interest of
preserving the employment and the business operations of AgfaPhoto group, the
current difficulties can be overcome and that AgfaPhoto GmbH recovers
quickly.
Contacts:
Nancy
Glynn
Vice-President
Communication
tel.: +32 (0)3 444 80 00
fax: +32 (0)3 444 74
85
Read Official Agfa Photo
Announcement (German)
ABOUT
AGFA
On 1 November 2004 the new
AgfaPhoto group with headquarters in Leverkusen took over all the activities of
the former Consumer Imaging division of the Agfa-Gevaert
group.
Products for end consumers - such as
film in particular - will continue to play an important role at AgfaPhoto, but
the main emphasis of activities will be on development, production and marketing
of laboratory equipment, software and consumer materials (in particular
photographic papers and chemicals) for professional processing and finishing of
photographic images. This means that AgfaPhoto will focus primarily on trade and
photo finishing business customers.
The
holding company NannO in Munich owns 55 per cent of the AgfaPhoto shares, 25 per
cent are owned by eight members of the top management of AgfaPhoto, and the
private equity companies Highfields Capital and Abrams Capital, both in Boston,
own 10 per cent each. Eddy Rottie, former Director of Consumer Imaging at
Agfa-Gevaert, is Executive Board Chairman and CEO. The declared aim is to
further develop AgfaPhoto as a profitable company and one of the world leaders
in the sector, while the company will remain open to extending its present
portfolio.
Posted: Fri - May 27, 2005 at 05:27 PM