SWJ takes over key customer projects and assigned employees
Attorney and partner Markus Ritterrath, in his capacity as insolvency administrator for RLE Mobility GmbH & Co. KG, is pleased to announce that the international M&A process for the business operations of RLE Mobility GmbH & Co. KG has now been successfully completed. As part of the RLE International Group in Germany, RLE Mobility GmbH & Co. KG serves OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to the automotive industry in traditional vehicle manufacturing as well as in the electronics and e-mobility sectors. While RLE International Produktentwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, as the parent company of the group, is undergoing self-administration proceedings, the Cologne Local Court has ordered regular insolvency proceedings for RLE Mobility GmbH & Co. KG. In an accelerated international investor process, SWJ, one of the world’s leading engineering partners planning and implementing innovative products, processes, and factories, prevailed with its offer. In the first step, a significant portion of customer projects will be continued with the associated employees, whose jobs are secure. It will become clear very soon whether the cooperation with another long-standing automotive customer can also be continued, so that employees assigned to these projects can also transfer to SWJ. SWJ has long-standing roots in the German automotive industry and this acquisition complements its range of services and customer base.
SWJ has long-standing roots in the German automotive industry and this acquisition complements its range of services and customer base. Insolvency administrator Markus Ritterrath: “I would like to express my sincere thanks to the customers of RLE Mobility who have remained loyal to us in recent weeks since the start of the preliminary insolvency proceedings. My thanks also go to the extremely committed and motivated staff at RLE Mobility, who fought to keep their jobs and maintained business operations.
I would also like to thank the very constructive works council, which, after intensive analysis and discussion, constructively supported the personnel adjustments that are unfortunately unavoidable in the current automotive industry environment, and Mr. Hans-Joachim Laufenberg, who, as managing director of RLE Mobility and co-partner of the RLE International Group, provided very constructive support for the continuation of the company and investor discussions under difficult conditions. Finally, I would also like to thank the team at the commissioned M&A consultancy Deichmann Corporate Finance GmbH, which contacted interested parties, obtained offers, and negotiated the transaction that has now been completed together with me. I wish Mr. Jurditsch and Mr. Hartmann, managing partners of SWJ, every success in integrating RLE Mobility’s business operations into SWJ.” Markus Jurditsch, managing partner of SWJ: “My colleague Stefan Hartmann and I warmly welcome the RLE Mobility employees who are joining us to our group of companies. We are very much looking forward to working with them!”