Kautex’s German site under insolvency; China facility not affected

Germany-based blow moulding machine maker Kautex Maschinenbau, with its German production site in Bonn, has been in insolvency in preliminary self-administration since August 2023, it says. The operations site in Shunde, China, is not affected at all. It also adds that the further development of the Bonn site into an innovation and service centre with associated production of “sustainable” high-end technologies is continuing, plus the management is in place as the company looks for investors and reorganises its operations.

Kautex adds that a number of factors forced it to undergo a continuous global transformation process since 2019 with the aim of realignment. The supplier of extrusion blow moulding machines said factors including the shift from combustion to electric engines in the automotive industry, the Covid-19 pandemic and supply chain issues.

Kautex says it has already successfully completed a large part of the initiated transformation process and implemented measures with positive results. A new corporate strategy has been developed and implemented globally. Furthermore, a product initiative was rolled out that enabled Kautex to establish itself directly as one of the market leaders in the new market segments of industrial packaging and future mobility solutions. Product portfolio and process know-how were successfully harmonised between the Kautex sites in Bonn, Germany and Shunde, China.

However, since 2019, a number of factors have hampered and slowed down the transformation process since it began. For example, the global Covid-19 pandemic, the lockdown in China, the disruption of global supply chains and supply bottlenecks had a negative impact on the realignment. Further complicating the situation were rising prices due to inflation, political uncertainties such as Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, and the shortage of skilled workers in Germany.

“Our realignment was affected by many developments over which we had no influence. We are proud of our progress in the group, which we nevertheless achieved together as Team Kautex," says Thomas Hartkämper, CEO. “All stakeholders are actively involved and fully support our chosen path. We will continue to follow it together in the future. We live our DNA of passion and resilience. The next steps are not easy for us, but we will not let this deter us from our path either.”

Julia Keller, CFO, further explains, “A structured M&A process has already been set up and intensive negotiations have been conducted with several potential investors. This process will continue and is currently ongoing.”

Kautex says it plans to extend its market position to other market segments through further innovations, especially in the interest of all employees, customers, suppliers and partners.

Headquartered in Bonn, Germany, Kautex was founded 80 years ago. It has a second fully equipped production facility in Shunde, China, and operates regional offices in the US, Italy, India, Mexico and Indonesia.

(PRA)

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