Lingl – insolvent despite market success, but confident
The insolvency in which the Krumbach-based mechanical engineering company Lingl Anlagenbau GmbH finds itself is unusual. As the company explains, the fact that the application had to be filed with the Neu-Ulm Local Court on 4 October has nothing to do with its own market and business success. Rather, it is Lingl‘s financial integration with its sister company Lippert GmbH & Co. KG, which went into insolvency on 29 September. According to Lingl‘s management, this meant that „the joint credit and guarantee lines were no longer available“. Initially very promising efforts to secure the company‘s own financing had to be unsuccessfully discontinued on 4 October 2023. Nuremberg lawyer Joachim Exner was appointed as the provisional insolvency administrator.
According to the management, there will be no restructuring. Business operations will continue despite the insolvency and customer orders will be processed as they were ordered. The company is now looking for investors. In view of Lingl‘s good condition, the company is confident that the sales process will be positive and that the company can be sold in its current state. With a new owner, the company will be able to secure financing and continue on the successful path it has embarked on.
Lingl with solid growth rate - expected output of 52 million euros in 2023
Lingl Managing Director Joachim Eibel emphasises that the company continues to be successful on the market thanks to the restructuring carried out two years ago and is doing well. While the company generated an output of 25 million in the second half of 2021, this figure had already risen to 45 million in 2022. According to Eibel, the company will „achieve its target of around 52 million euros in output combined with a clearly positive result“ in this financial year. The insolvency is therefore seen in a different light than three years ago.
Eibel continues: „The current order backlog extends well into 2024. The company is profitable, the team is strong and optimistic.“ However, due to the business structure in plant engineering, the company is dependent on loans to pre-finance long-term projects. This requires a solid financing and guarantee framework.
Lingl‘s path to the Schug Group
The Krumbach-based company last went bankrupt almost exactly three years ago. In mid-2021, Lingl was acquired by the Schug Group. The latter had already acquired Lippert GmbH & Co. KG, an Upper Palatinate-based mechanical engineering company for logistics, automation, technical ceramics and the sanitary and porcelain industry, in 2017. The existing financing for Lippert at the time was extended and utilised for Lingl.
Confidence in the company
On this basis, says Eibel, the company was reorganised, focused on innovation and successfully re-entered the market. In addition to the good earnings and performance figures, he cites the high level of approval from Lingl‘s customers and the fact that a number of projects in Germany and around the world have been completed with a very positive response. This is also the basis for the confidence that both the management and the approximately 220 employees, including 20 trainees, have.
According to Eibel, Lingl will continue to build on this successful development and support the industry with innovations, particularly in the field of automation. ZI will report on this.
