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Restructuring officer takes the helm at Baywa
At the ailing German agro, construction, and energy conglomerate Baywa, the helm will be taken over by Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO) Michael Baur. He has been tasked with making the company smaller, leaner and healthier.
This was announced by the company at the end of last week. Baur comes from the consulting organization Alix Partners and is considered a heavyweight for challenging interim assignments. As CRO, he will take on the roles of both CEO and CFO (Chief Financial Officer).
With his appointment, it was announced that Marcus Pollinger will step down as CEO by October 31. CFO Andreas Helber will remain until the end of March 2025, but will then also depart after fourteen years. Meanwhile, the chairmanship of the supervisory board remains firmly in the hands of Gregor Scheller.
Baywa r.e. once a growth star
It is expected that temporary strongman Michael Baur will now vigorously proceed with the restructuring of the company, with a focus on Baywa r.e. This business unit was once the growth star of the company, but is now - due to wrong investments and uncontrolled projects - the sick part. There is a possibility that the entire division will be sold off. Some parts have already been sold or are slated for divestiture.
In the construction and agro divisions, the need for cuts seems less present. However, data company Farm Facts has already been sold to the Luxembourg-based Eurofins, known in the Netherlands for, among other things, soil samples. In the Netherlands, fruit company TFC Holland also belongs to Baywa's agro division.
Creditors at bay and extra funds
Baur has not only been given a strong mandate to restructure the group and make it healthy again, but conditions have also been created to allow him to do his work better. An agreement has been reached with the more than three hundred creditors that none of them can currently claim repayments, but that a sort of time-out applies to everyone for the time being. This agreement was not reached without a struggle, but 95% saw that this would be the least bad option. In addition, Baur will have access to an additional emergency credit of €500 million until the end of the year, on top of the €547 million that was already promised in August.
High advisory bill
There is grumbling about the costs that Baur and his assistants are charging for their rescue work. Reportedly, it costs around €1 million per day. The accusation of vulture capitalism is quickly made, but Baywa probably doesn't have much choice. According to reports, the debt mountain is already larger than €5 billion and will only grow further without decisive action.
