Bavaria Yachts, Germany's largest shipyard, is to be placed under interim administration. This procedure is used when a company faces the threat of liquidation. The shipyard has not, however, declared bankruptcy, which means that all boats currently under construction will be finished, although perhaps a little later than planned.
Bavaria Yachts was founded in 1978. In June 2007 it was bought by Bain Capital for €1.1 billion. By October 2009 the shipyard was taken over by two American hedge funds, Oaktree and Anchorage Capital, each holding a 45% stake worth €684 million.
Today the facility in Giebelstadt, Bavaria, employs more than 500 people and produces motor and sailing yachts up to 57 feet.
The announcement came as a big surprise as the company is far from suffering from a shortage of customers and has also recently unveiled a new C45 at Boot Düsseldorf and launched its next flagship C65.
CEO Lutz Henkel was found to be responsible for the firm's current sorry state of affairs. He was understandably removed from his position last week.
The interim administrator of the company will have to recapitalize it or sell it in whole or in parts.
In addition, Bavaria Yachts has a subsidiary in France that produces sailing catamarans under the Nautitech brand. Presumably, it will continue to operate as usual.
