C.S.T. Umwelttechnik und Innovation e. G

Complex Bankruptcy Administration in Corporate Group on the “Gray Capital Market”

C.S.T Umwelttechnik und Innovation e. G used its eligibility pursuant to the Fifth Act Promoting the Capital Accumulation of Employees [Fünftes Gesetz zur Förderung der Vermögensbildung der Arbeitnehmer; VermBG] to obtain capital-forming benefits from employees without offering any real countervalue. It recruited as many as 40,000 cooperative members without ever making a profit itself or in its numerous participating interests.

Insolvency Administrator

Joachim Büttner

BRRS Office

Hamburg

Local Court

Hamburg

Proceedings

Bankruptcy Proceedings

Key Facts

16,000 — remaining — shareholders (cooperative members), confiscated business documents, chaotic representation relationships, nested participations

Result

Quota: more than 30%

Period

Conclusion: 2021

Initial Situation

The debtor continuously recruited cooperative members to finance its business operations and its investments before this was prevented by statutory amendments and special termination rights were created. The debtor held participating interests in 13 German stock corporations — in most cases, it was the sole shareholder. One of these companies was the personally liable partner in three limited partnerships. The debtor was the limited partner in each case. The projects were related to wind farms. Another limited partnership interest had accrued to the debtor. In this case, the debtor was a minority shareholder in a company that operated a wind farm and generated feed-in payments. The debtor was also a shareholder in a company that conducted a wind farm project in Spain.

The Proceedings

The administrator unbundled the shareholdings, partially merged them or cleared them by accrual, and subsequently generated proceeds for the assets by liquidating the absorbing company. Existing real estate assets were liquidated. Ten thousand claims had been filed, some of which were extremely contentious.