Weber Benteli: Bankruptcy petition filed
The printing company Weber Benteli in Brügg near Biel filed for bankruptcy on Friday. The takeover by an investor had previously failed. 270 employees are at risk of losing their jobs.
Director Martin Brawand told SDA on Friday that the competent judge had already approved the bankruptcy. A trustee will appear on Monday. All 270 employees in 250 positions must expect to be made redundant. The company was no longer solvent and is unable to pay the November salaries. The cantonal unemployment fund is now expected to pay for this, as the cantonal economic office Beco announced on Friday. According to Hans-Peter Graf from the Comedia trade union, a group of employees went outside the building on Friday to express their anger at the new situation. Comedia was not surprised - they had known about the difficulties, said Graf.
Everything done to reduce costs with restructuring program
The company ran into difficulties due to declining magazine print runs and far fewer orders for brochures, as Brawand went on to say. In a press release, the company refers to a difficult economic situation with a drop in turnover of 30 to 40 percent. The management had "done everything possible" to reduce costs with a "massive restructuring program". However, due to the "dramatic erosion of margins", a further adjustment of costs to the low level of earnings is no longer possible. For this reason, business operations had to be discontinued. Due to the economic environment and the "ruinous competitive situation", negotiations to take over the company had also failed. The bankruptcy petition had become unavoidable due to the high level of debt from previous years.
Largely in German ownership
Weber Benteli produces image, advertising, business and publishing stationery for agencies, service providers, trading and production companies in Switzerland and Europe, as well as for the public sector. The company was formed in 2008 from the merger of the Biel-based company Farbdruck Weber and Bern-based Benteli Hallwag. The latter was a merger of Benteli AG Bern, which dates back to 1899, and Druckerei Hallwag. Between 2006 and April 2009, Farbendruck Weber and Weber Benteli AG were owned by the German investment company Arques Industries. It sold the company last spring to the Munich-based financial investors ValueNet Capital Partners and the management. According to Brawand, the financial investors from Germany own the majority of the share capital.
Everything done to reduce costs with restructuring program
The company ran into difficulties due to declining magazine print runs and far fewer orders for brochures, as Brawand went on to say. In a press release, the company refers to a difficult economic situation with a drop in turnover of 30 to 40 percent. The management had "done everything possible" to reduce costs with a "massive restructuring program". However, due to the "dramatic erosion of margins", a further adjustment of costs to the low level of earnings is no longer possible. For this reason, business operations had to be discontinued. Due to the economic environment and the "ruinous competitive situation", negotiations to take over the company had also failed. The bankruptcy petition had become unavoidable due to the high level of debt from previous years.
Largely in German ownership
Weber Benteli produces image, advertising, business and publishing stationery for agencies, service providers, trading and production companies in Switzerland and Europe, as well as for the public sector. The company was formed in 2008 from the merger of the Biel-based company Farbdruck Weber and Bern-based Benteli Hallwag. The latter was a merger of Benteli AG Bern, which dates back to 1899, and Druckerei Hallwag. Between 2006 and April 2009, Farbendruck Weber and Weber Benteli AG were owned by the German investment company Arques Industries. It sold the company last spring to the Munich-based financial investors ValueNet Capital Partners and the management. According to Brawand, the financial investors from Germany own the majority of the share capital.
