FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German battery maker Varta said on Saturday it had reached a restructuring agreement with its creditors, bringing on sports car manufacturer Porsche to save the ailing business.
Varta’s debt will be reduced from 485 million euros ($534.86 million) to an initial 200 million euros, the company said.
Lengthy negotiations between major shareholder Michael Tojner, creditors and Porsche led to a compromise to relieve Varta of debt and provide it with fresh capital.
Tojner and Porsche will become the new owners of Varta and will provide a capital injection of 60 million euros.
A further 60 million euros will come from the creditors as senior secured loans.
A third investor could come on board later.
“We are in advanced discussions with other investors who would like to join us,” Varta Chief Executive Michael Ostermann told Reuters.
($1 = 0.9068 euros)
(Reporting by Alexander Huebner in Munich and Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru; Writing by Emma-Victoria Farr; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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