As of: February 23, 2024, 5:26 a.m
By: Julian Baumann
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A new insolvency hits employees in southern Germany.
Around 150 employees in five companies are affected.
Biberach (Baden) - In the still young year of 2024, the global economic challenges have already brought some companies from Baden-Württemberg to their knees.
The interior decorator TTL from Heidenheim recently filed for bankruptcy, but the company appears to have already been in crisis.
As the law firm Berbuer, Speier and Kuhn (BSK) from Freiburg im Breisgau explains in a press release, the traditional Knäble Group, headquartered in Biberach im Kinzigtal, has filed for bankruptcy on its own initiative at the Offenburg district court.
A total of around 150 employees in the group's five companies are affected.
In the first half of 2023 alone, over 900 companies in Baden-Württemberg filed for bankruptcy;
not everyone survived the measure.
In the case of the Knäble family business, which was founded in 1922, the omens look good despite its insolvency.
In the announcement, the insolvency administrators emphasize the express goal of restructuring the family-run group of companies and its companies and continuing to operate them on a healthy basis.
Another traditional company from Baden-Württemberg experienced a real boom after the bankruptcy announcement.
Traditional company got into trouble due to various factors
The insolvency administrators cite several different factors as the reason for the difficulties in the traditional family business.
On the one hand, the company had to make large investments in a new asphalt mixing plant in 2020.
These were very challenging in relation to the size of the company, but there was “no alternative to being able to continue operating the traditional company and thus secure jobs in the future.” On the one hand, this meant that the company's reserves were used up and, on the other hand, considerable debts were incurred , the reduction of which has burdened the family business month after month since then.
The traditional Knäble Group from the Ortenau district has filed for bankruptcy on its own initiative.
The reasons are varied.
© IMAGO/Peter Sandbiller
Knäble road construction group
The origins of the Knäble Group go back to 1922, meaning the company can look back on over a hundred years of company history.
The group consists of the companies Georg Knäble & Sohn KG, Knäble Straßenbau GmbH and Ortenauer Baustoffe & Recycling GmbH, all of which are based in Biberach.
Huber GmbH from Gegenbach (Ortenaukreis) and Walter, Tief- und Straßenbau GmbH from Offenburg-Zunsweiler also belong to the group.
The customers of the traditional civil engineering and road construction company include cities such as Offenburg, Lahr/Black Forest, Schramberg and Gengenbach and other communities in the Ortenau district in Baden-Württemberg.
(
Source: knaeble-gruppe.de
)
In addition, during the
Corona pandemic, many competitors and competitors tried to ensure the continued existence of their businesses through unhealthy low prices out of desperation, as the statement says.
As a result, the Knäble Group had to process a large number of large orders with low or even negative coverage amounts.
The current issue of high energy, raw material and personnel costs in the wake of the war in Ukraine also contributed to the tense financial situation of the Baden-Württemberg group of companies.
“The group of companies got into crisis through no fault of its own due to an extremely unfortunate combination of negative external circumstances,” said restructuring lawyer Basil Speier.
Knäble Group enters insolvency with a solid foundation – employee salaries covered
Due to the financial situation, the owner family, who are now in their fourth generation running the group, decided to renovate the company on their own responsibility with professional help.
In contrast to a bakery chain from Baden-Württemberg, which had to close all branches due to repeated hygiene deficiencies, the civil engineering and road construction company from the Ortenau district is on a solid basis.
“At its core and especially in the operational area, the company is rock-solid and very efficient,” explains Basil Speier.
“In addition, the order books are well filled and the workforce is on board.”
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According to the announcement, the wages and salaries of around 150 employees have been paid in full and covered by the insolvency money.
Losses in wages are therefore ruled out and company closures are not planned.
The business operations of the group and its companies will continue unchanged during the restructuring process.
“On this basis, we want to create a sustainable and resilient solution for the future together with the owner family, who act very responsibly, over the next few months,” says lawyer Speier.
At the beginning of February, an automotive supplier from Baden-Württemberg also filed for bankruptcy - despite full order books.