Insolvency after more than 170 years - German soap manufacturer Kappus is bankrupt
Created: 10/15/2022 3:03 p.m
By: Madlen Trefzer
Baden-Württemberg - Experts speak of a wave of bankruptcies.
Now the next traditional German company is going bankrupt: a soap manufacturer that exports all over the world.
Another traditional company from Germany goes bankrupt.
The Kappus soap company, founded in 1848, filed for insolvency under self-administration at the Freiburg district court on September 30, according
to
chip.de.
The wages and salaries of the 181 employees are secured until the end of the year, as the company from Heitersheim (Baden-Württemberg) reports.
Soap manufacturer Kappus from Baden-Württemberg files for bankruptcy and is looking for new investors
You file for bankruptcy because you want to restructure yourself;
therefore, they are looking for new investors.
The company also speaks of increased costs for material, personnel and logistics as well as supply bottlenecks, reports HEIDELBERG24.
Added to this were the massive increases in costs for raw materials and energy, particularly since the summer, which could only be passed on to customers in part and with a time lag.
The order situation is good, reports the
Badische Zeitung
.
The management, headed by Axel Buchholz, has already drawn up a plan on how Kappus can be restructured and made competitive.
The procedure that has now been initiated is "the beginning of the solution for a sustainable future for Kappus", according to the chief representative Philipp Grub.
The cost pressure is also causing Dr.
Oetker worries - so that a reduction plan is already in sight.
Grub is a lawyer and restructuring expert in the law firm Grub Brugger and supports the management of the traditional soap manufacturer during the reorganization.
So far, Kappus has been producing both solid soap bars and liquid soaps.
Some of the products are vegan.
More than 260 million bars of soap are produced every year - at three locations in Germany.
Exports to 30 countries.
Business operations at the soap manufacturer Kappus continue without restrictions
Business operations at Kappus continue without restrictions, reports Grub.
The search for new financiers has already begun: "Contacts have already been made with serious investors, but initially no agreement could be reached on their entry. However, talks with the investors are now being vigorously resumed in order to enable a quick investor solution", explains Hans Konrad Schenk, the company's lawyer.
Not the first financial difficulties at the soap manufacturer Kappus
A German confectionery manufacturer also files for bankruptcy.
But it is not the first time that the Kappus company has run into financial difficulties.
In September 2018, the soap manufacturer had to file for bankruptcy under self-administration for the first time after 170 years of company history.
Even then, the sharp rise in raw material prices and high price pressure were the reasons for the financial problems.
A little later, the Kappus headquarters in Offenbach are closed
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At that time, Kappus was one of the largest producers in Western Europe with an annual production of more than 70,000 tons of soap and a turnover of 80 million euros.
The traditional company was founded 176 years ago in Offenbach by Johann Martin Kappus and exported soap products all over the world at the beginning of the 20th century.
According to the FAZ
, the company is managed by the fifth generation of the family .
(mad)
