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Extrusion blow molding equipment company Kautex Maschinenbau GmbH has declared the production site at its headquarters in Bonn, Germany to be insolvent as of Aug. 25, 2023, according to a press release posted on its website. The declaration does not affect the company’s operation in Shunde, China. Kautex also said that development of the Bonn site into an “innovation and service center with associated production of sustainable high-end technologies” is continuing despite the insolvency.

Kautex has pursued what it calls a global transformation process since 2019, partly precipitated by a shift to electrification in the automotive industry. Although it has made significant progress in implementing a global corporate strategy and establishing a framework to achieve a leading position within the industrial packaging and future mobility sectors, other external factors have delayed the transformation process, said Kautex in the press release published on Aug. 28. Those factors include the COVID-19 pandemic, China’s lockdowns, and supply chain bottlenecks, as well as inflation, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and a shortage of skilled workers in Germany, said Kautex.

The German economy as a whole is in a recession. “The German Federal government just confirmed that the economy has now been in recession for three straight quarters through to the end of June,” Forbes reported yesterday. And that doesn’t even take into account the current situation nor the likely future for the country — Germany’s economic mess is likely to continue for another half year, said Forbes, citing London-based analyst Capital Economics. 

A structured M&A process has been set up for Kautex Maschinenbau, which has been in business for more than 80 years, and negotiations are ongoing with potential investors, said Chief Financial Officer Julia Keller.