Oldenburg The district court of Oldenburg opened preliminary insolvency proceedings again at Deutsche Lichtmiete AG on Tuesday and appointed the former preliminary insolvency administrator Rüdiger Weiß back into office. The judge thus followed an application for bankruptcy from among the creditors, as a spokesman for the Handelsblatt confirmed.
Lichtmiete is now getting a “strong insolvency administrator” who can act alone and does not need the approval of the board for decisions, said the court spokesman. This opens the next chapter in the chaotic struggle for the Oldenburg lighting specialist.
On March 1, Lichtmiete then presented a new board of directors, Stuttgart interim manager Gert Sieger, and Thomas Rogalla from Hamburg, another new chairman of the supervisory board. Hahn himself resigned from his posts, also because the public prosecutor’s office was investigating him on suspicion of fraud. He denies the allegations.
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The district court was not convinced by Hahn’s rescue initiative, especially since several creditors apparently filed their own bankruptcy applications. As a strong insolvency administrator, Weiß now has more creative freedom than in the first provisional insolvency proceedings, in which he could not decide without the then board member Hahn.
The preliminary insolvency administrator gets more influence.
(Photo: Wallner Weiss)
“I have already contacted the new management and hope that the best solution can be found for the creditors,” said Weiß in an interview with the Handelsblatt on Tuesday. The task now is to integrate the new players into the team.
“We were surprised by this because we also filed for insolvency for self-administration on Tuesday,” new board member Sieger told the Handelsblatt. He actually wanted to initiate insolvency proceedings in which the management remains on board. Sieger said he was irritated and had to regroup first. “We have the capital majority of the creditors behind us. Now we have to see how we can continue.”
In fact, White should initially be dependent on winners. Because neither the production nor the sales company in the Lichtmiete Group are currently insolvent again. The court announced that no new bankruptcy applications had been filed for these companies. Sieger still knows the light rent from an investor’s point of view. For a long time he was a member of the board of directors of KFM Deutsche Mittelstand AG, which is one of the major creditors when it comes to light rental.
The business model of light rental “Light as a service” was considered a smart concept by financiers. “For our customers, we are a full service provider in the field of lighting – from advice and installation to maintenance and service,” the website describes the services of light rental. And: “We will also take on the financial investment in the new system.”
According to its own statements, the group has implemented more than 700 modernization projects in the areas of industry, commerce and public institutions – for municipalities, retail, medium-sized and large companies.
It is estimated that Lichtmiete collected around 200 million euros from 5,000 investors. The group of companies used two financing models: direct investments in the plants and bonds traded on the stock exchange. Since December 8, 2021, however, donors have been on a rollercoaster ride.
On that day in December, prosecutors and police officers searched the offices and homes of four executives. The authorities are investigating on suspicion of collective fraud. Hahn denies the allegations. His lawyer said a few weeks ago: There are neither reliable indications of a lack of viability of the business model “nor of misleading, fraud-related misinformation from investors”.
Hard fight for his life’s work.
(Photo: Deutsche Lichtmiete)
At the same time as the raid, the public prosecutor’s office secured assets worth more than 135 million euros and froze the company accounts. Hahn therefore filed for bankruptcy for the first time shortly before New Year’s Eve. The two provisional insolvency administrators Weiß and Malte Köster initiated an M&A process and commissioned the Rothschild investment bank to look for a buyer.
The plans fell through when Hahn withdrew the bankruptcy filing at the end of February. A creditor representative scolded: “If I want absurd theater, I go to the Residenztheater.” Others immediately filed new bankruptcy applications.
A rift ran through the creditorship. Some wanted to help Hahn to save the rent, even with a margin. Others have lost hope. The deepening conflict between the insolvency administration and the company founder was now carried out on the public stage.
Read more about the insolvency of the Lichtmiete Group:
While Weiß wrote in his report to the court that there were more than 240,000 missing lights at a production cost of 56 million euros, Lichtmiete sharply criticized this “propagated claim” in a statement and listed alleged stocks: 61,938 finished lights and 30,968 accessories worth 120 million euros . In addition, there are components in the warehouse for a further 146,000 lights worth 60 million euros. None of these numbers can currently be verified.
The public prosecutor’s office became active again two weeks ago and searched an Osnabrück company on suspicion of money laundering because the accused Lichtmiete executives had transferred several million euros there.
The district court has now taken a clear position. The insolvency administrator white gets more power. The regular procedure could be opened very soon, the court said. Weiss’ reports are available. Now it is only necessary to check whether the company’s situation has changed in the meantime.
More: “House of cards about to collapse”: How the chaos around the Lichtmiete group spreads