Mühle-Glashütte petitions insolvency proceedings

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Mühle-Glashütte petitions insolvency proceedings

On July 4th, 2007, we have filed a petition for the opening of insolvency proceedings over Mühle-Glashütte GmbH Nautische Instrumente & Feinmechanik. After a local watch manufacturer had opened proceedings against us under competition law and after the settlement negotiations failed, we are forced to set up reserves amounting to 63 million Euros. Hence, in our balance sheets, liabilities exceed our assets. The Dresden Insolvency Court appointed Mr Helgi Heumann as the preliminary insolvency administrator.
The matter of litigation concerns the use of the Glashütte mark of origin on our watches. After court proceedings with the local competitor in 2002 we accepted a settlement and started immediate steps for changes in our production. Additional product refinements resulted in a substantial increase of the proportion of components that are manufactured and finished in our plant. The opponent considered these measures to be insufficient and brought up a new action against Mühle-Glashütte GmbH which the Munich County Court sustained in February 2007.
However, insolvency proceedings are not supposed to be the end of Mühle-Glashütte, but the release from a position of constraint. Senior owner Hans-Jürgen Mühle will now hand over the company’s future to his son. Thilo Mühle will use the insolvency proceedings to put an end to a phase of frustration and uncertainty and will lead our company into a successful future. He anticipates insolvency plan proceedings that will help him implement his aims and, above all, maintain jobs and create new ones in the company. After a first inspection, Helgi Heumann, the insolvency administrator, has anounced that he, too, will take all efforts to maintain our traditional company and continue production.

Your Mühle-Glashütte team