AMSTERDAM: According to Dutch research firm USP Marketing Consultancy, 500 companies in the installation sector are affected by Royal Imtech’s bankruptcy with about 100 fearing for their survival.
The 500 firms worked as subcontractors for consultancy and services firm Imtech and 75% of them are not insured against client bankruptcy. USP states that 25% of the companies are dependent on Imtech for a large part of their turnover, while 66% have outstanding invoices at Imtech.
Royal Imtech N.V. formally entered bankruptcy protection on Thursday 13 August, less than a week after its German division filed for insolvency.
The fate of part of the Gouda-based company’s workforce, including 22,000 global employees, of which 2,700 are in the Netherlands, is not yet known, but at least 7,300 of those jobs are protected after the company’s Marine and Nordic divisions were quickly sold off.
Imtech Nordic was spun off into a separate, private business while Parcom Capital and Pon Holdings acquired the Marine unit. Parcom is a mid-market private equity fund that manages over EUR1 billion invested in a range of industries, including the offshore and maritime sector, while Pon has maritime expertise and is one of the largest family-run businesses in the Netherlands, employing nearly 13,000 people in 450 locations across 32 countries and turning over almost EUR6 billion in 2014.
In a press statement, Parcom and Pon said details of the takeover “are being worked out,” but the takeover “guarantees the continuity of Imtech Marine, to allow the company to realise its growth ambition. It creates peace of mind and security amongst employees, customers and suppliers”.
Speaking to IHS Maritime, a spokesman for the two companies said, “Currently, no further comments can be released regarding the agreement.”
However, Imtech Marine global services director René ten Brinke stated, “We are extremely happy with Pon Holdings and Parcom Capital as the new owners. Both are highly professional companies, with extensive experience in the maritime industry – it couldn’t have been a better scenario for us.”
As for the remaining Imtech divisions, according to Dutch newspaper Financieele Dagblad around 30 parties are showing an interest in buying them, including Dutch firm Kuijpers as well as “vulture funds, fortune-hunters and stock exchange-listed companies”.
Administrators are looking to sell-off the Imtech Traffic and Infrastructure unit, as well as Imtech Belgium, Imtech Spain, and Imtech UK/Ireland.
Imtech’s financial woes first surfaced in February 2013 when the company announced a depreciation of EUR100 million due to problems in Poland over a 240 ha theme park called ‘Adventure World Warsaw’ of which Imtech Germany was the general contractor.
After internal investigations, Imtech Germany managing director Klaus Betz and chief financial officer Axel Glaß left the company.
In a report to shareholders in June 2013, Imtech alleged widespread fraud in Germany and Poland, confessed that internal controls had not worked, and saw EUR1 billion wiped from its stock market value.
Despite a reorganisation, Imtech went bankrupt.
