Possehl Buys Manroland Web Unit, Managers Step In to Run Rest

L. Possehl & Co. has agreed to buy Manroland AG (MRDCF)’s web press unit in Augsburg while investors are sought for the offset unit in Offenbach and assembly operations in Plauen, insolvency administrator Werner Schneider said. The sites in Offenbach and Plauen will initially be taken over by management and Schneider, the administrator said in a conference call with journalists. About 2,500 jobs will be saved from 4,700 in Germany, he said. Schneider has been negotiating under “tight” time pressure to have a solution in place before preliminary insolvency proceedings end on Jan. 31, the manager said. Manroland, the biggest maker of newspaper printing machines, saw orders fall by 50 percent from 2006 to 2010 as readers switched to online news and banks curtailed financing of machinery. “It is a common goal to pass the company on to investors that are interested in a long-term and independent continuation of the company,” Schneider said on the call. “In effect, the second round is now starting for Offenbach.” Shanghai Electric Group Co. (601727), which was interested in buying all of Manroland, may still be interested in bidding for the Offenbach plant and several companies have said they are interested in the Plauen site, Schneider said. While Platinum Equity, a buyout firm based in Los Angeles, had submitted a bid for all units, Possehl, based in Luebeck, was faster and had already held negotiations with worker representatives, the administrator said. The assembly operations in Plauen will be supported by supply contracts from Augsburg and Possehl may be interested in taking over that site as well, Schneider said. Talks have already been held about the state of Hesse providing loan guarantees to secure Offenbach’s future, the administrator said. In Augsburg, 1,500 of 2,200 workers will be able to keep their jobs, while in Offenbach the number will be reduced to 750 from 1,760. Plauen will keep 290 positions from 680, Schneider said.