EQS-News: Manz AG provides information on the current status of the preliminary insolvency proceedings

Manz AG provides information on the current status of the preliminary insolvency proceedings 

• Operations will continue during the ongoing preliminary insolvency proceedings
• Sales process has been extended to all business units
• Manz shares will continue to be traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange until further notice
• An official segment change from the Prime Standard to the General Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is imminent

Reutlingen, 10 January 2025 – Manz AG (“Manz”) is currently going through the usual regular process of preliminary insolvency proceedings, after a corresponding insolvency petition was filed on December 20, 2024. Even during the ongoing preliminary insolvency proceedings, business operations will continue.

Preliminary insolvency proceedings in the regular process

As part of the preliminary insolvency proceedings, the task of the preliminary insolvency administrator Martin Mucha from the law firm Grub Brugger is to secure, manage and, in the interests of creditors, utilize the remaining assets of Manz, as well as to secure the highest possible number of jobs. To this end, the planned sale process of individual activities was significantly expanded on January 9, 2025. The pre-insolvency sale process, which was initially limited to the sale of the battery cell business, has now been extended to include all business units.

Martin Mucha explains: “The aim of the broad-based sales process is to expand the pool of interested investors so that, ideally, the sale can be completed in the spring to one or more suitable investors. The final solution will depend on how the overall process evolves. Personally, it is important to me that Manz AG’s employees are always promptly informed about the current status of the process. Their motivation and skills are essential for a successful implementation.”

Manz stock traded on the floor and segment change to General Standard

On December 27, 2024, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange published a notice on its website that trading in Manz AG shares on the XETRA trading platform in the regulated market (Prime Standard) had been terminated. It is still possible to trade shares on the floor of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Regulated Market) and on the stock exchanges in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg and Hanover.

Pursuant to the provisions of the Exchange Rules of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, it is to be expected that, as a result of the insolvency proceedings, Deutsche Börse AG will revoke the admission of Manz shares to the sub-segment of the regulated market with additional post-admission obligations (Prime Standard) within the next few weeks. This means a change to the General Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, which will reduce Manz AG's costs and efforts with regard to the follow-up obligations. In particular, the quarterly statements and the obligation to make publications in English will no longer apply. The admission of Manz shares to exchange trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is not affected by this step and will remain in place for the time being.

Manz AG's insolvency filing in December 2024 had become necessary because the company had built up expertise at an early stage and invested heavily in expanding capacities and technologies, particularly for battery cell production, against the background of original market expectations for e-mobility. Particularly in Europe, the expected market potential has not materialized as expected, also due to a lack of support from the corresponding political framework. The European market for battery cells suffered a drastic collapse. Investments were postponed or canceled by various major international manufacturers. For Manz, this meant that the high investments in technology and innovations could not be offset by corresponding revenues. 

About Manz AG

As a high-tech mechanical engineering company, Manz AG develops best-in-class production solutions for lithium-ion batteries as well as for electronic components and devices for its customers. This makes Manz an innovative pioneer for the global megatrends of electromobility and digitalization.

Manz covers the entire range of modern production solutions: from customer-specific individual machines for laboratory production or pilot and small-series production to standardized modules and systems to turnkey lines for efficient mass production. Customers benefit from high resource efficiency with higher throughput and shorter time-to-market.

With currently around 1,200 employees, the Manz Group develops and produces in Germany, Slovakia, Italy, China and Taiwan. There are also sales and service subsidiaries in the USA and India.

Manz AG was founded in 1987 and generated consolidated sales of 249.2 million EUR in the 2023 financial year with the two segments Mobility & Battery Solutions and Industry Solutions. The shares (ISIN: DE000A0JQ5U3) are listed on the Regulated Market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Prime Standard).

Contact:

Manz AG
Katrin Neuffer
Tel.: +49 (0)7121 9000-395
E-Mail: investor-relations@manz.com