Battery company Varta has legal go-ahead to restructure and delist after the Regional Court of Stuttgart rejected all the appeals against the plan as inadmissible. This makes its restructuring plan legally binding, it said.
It means the company will be delisted and its share value written down to zero, and shareholders will exit without compensation, Varta said.
The restructuring court in Stuttgart confirmed the plan in December after it was approved by voting groups in November.
The company said it will raise €60 million ($63 million) in new equity via a capital increase. It will exclude subscription rights by a company controlled by its indirect majority shareholder, Dr. Dr. Michael Tojner and an investment company of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche.
Existing debt of €485 million is to be reduced by about €255 million to around €230 million as part of a haircut. Liquidity requirements will be covered by a new €60 million senior loan.
Varta’s energy storage solutions are aimed at private and commercial applications. It makes lead-acid batteries, lithium-ion battery packs and lithium-ion large cells, as well as household batteries.