Stuttgart District Court opens insolvency proceedings over four Varta companies

The Stuttgart District Court has opened insolvency proceedings for four Varta companies. According to the group, these are VARTA AG, VARTA Microbattery GmbH, VARTA Storage GmbH and VARTA Micro Production GmbH.

In mid-July, the company from Ellwangen, Swabia, initially filed an application for self-administration insolvency proceedings for Varta AG as the parent company and three other units.

According to the insolvency administrator Tobias Wahl from the Anchor law firm in Ellwangen, around 2,300 people worked at the four companies affected by the insolvency.

The insolvency administrator of the struggling battery manufacturer expects an investor solution for the company in the coming months. “The interest in Varta’s core technological competencies remains unchanged in the market,” said Wahl.

The company also expects the sales process to be successfully completed in the coming months. A spokesman for Wahl was unable to answer whether the interested parties were financial investors or industrial companies.

The household battery division, which important donors wanted to separate from the group, is not affected by the insolvency proceedings. According to the company, this is legally and operationally independent.

“Thanks to the great commitment of everyone involved, business operations were stabilized during the preliminary insolvency proceedings,” explains insolvency administrator Wahl. This is a good starting point for further renovation. Suppliers and customers continued to trust in the company's performance.

While business operations have been stabilized at the locations, according to the insolvency administrator there is an irreversible decision for some areas: For Varta Microbattery, the production stop decided on in the spring will remain due to the loss of its most important customer.

This concerns the factory in Nördlingen, Bavaria. This step will be implemented as planned, it is said. As a result, around 350 people lose their jobs. The closure was announced in mid-May. Varta lost its most important customer in the spring: Apple wants to purchase the rechargeable button cells for its “AirPods” headphones from China in the future.