In 2013, elumatec, a German machinery manufacturer, was in trouble. Originally started as a parts producer in 1928, the company had dealers in over 50 countries worldwide and more than 28,000 customers, but was about to go insolvent. The company was heavy in debt and subsidiaries, and would go under if something drastic wasn’t done to save it. That drastic action to save the company was taken by appointing Britta Huebner as CRO (Chief Restructuring Officer). Britta specialises in taking companies back from the brink of destruction, and had being doing that with other companies for some time. ”I have done this for many years,” Britta says.
”I go into companies that are in very critical situations, for example, close to insolvency, and try to solve that. I’ve done this since 2009, more or less, where I go into companies that are in a special situation. Before that I was with one of Germanys biggest listed DAX companies for many years. Within that company I was appointed the projects that nobody else wanted to do, like closing sites and restructuring within the company, all sorts of things. Somehow I ended up then in special situations in that company, and that is maybe how I got into the area that I’m in now.”
When Britta was appointed, previous decisions by management had led elumatec to a critical position. Lots of management actions took place which unfortunately led elumatec into a crisis. Also, there was a huge debt structure, so of course at one point in time elumatec was at risk of not being able to pay the interest and pay the regular payments to the banks. Britta wasn’t short on challenges and had to make hard decisions to keep the company afloat. She says her approach is to always try and stop cases like elumatecs going to court, but it wasn’t possible, making it harder to get the best result. We first of all had the intention to do the financial restructuring out of court, but due to the complex circumstances this was not doable.
When Britta was appointed, previous decisions by management had led elumatec to a critical position. :Lots of management actions took place which unfortunately led elumatec into a crisis. Also, there was a huge debt structure, so of course at one point in time elumatec was at risk of not being able to pay the interest and pay the regular payments to the banks.” Britta wasnt short on challenges and had to make hard decisions to keep the company afloat. She says her approach is to always try and stop cases like elumatecs going to court, but it wasnt possible, making it harder to get the best result. “We first of all had the intention to do the financial restructuring out of court, but due to the complex circumstances this was not doable.”