On 20 December 2017, the Local Court of Traunstein ordered preliminary debtor-in-possession proceedings for five companies in the Merkel Group. Mr Mirko Möllen from PLUTA has been appointed as the provisional insolvency monitor for all of the five proceedings.
The group is receiving advice from the law and tax consultancy firm TRICON. Merkel Group is one of Bavaria's largest care providers. The group's business continues to run without any interruption, which means that all those in need of care are being provided with high-quality services as usual.
At the moment, the new management team, led by Mr Thomas Klöckner from the law firm LECON Restrukturierung Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft and the health care specialist Mr Oliver Mathes, are preparing a plan that should allow the business to be successfully continued. In his capacity as the insolvency monitor, the PLUTA expert Mr Möllen will oversee the restructuring process and monitor the five proceedings to ensure that the creditors will in no way be at a disadvantage.
The following group companies are affected by insolvency: Domus Mea Management GmbH, Fischbachau Pflege- und Therapiezentrum GmbH, Bayerisch Gmain Pflege- und Therapiezentrum GmbH, MM Merkel Verwaltungs GmbH and Merkel Vermögensverwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG.
The Merkel Group, which also includes additional companies, operates care and therapy centres at six sites in the region of Upper Bavaria. These include nursing homes, social therapy centres, addiction and long-term therapy centres as well as day-care and short-term care facilities. With a workforce of 515 employees and roughly 600 beds, the group is one of the leading players in the field of private care provision.
Debtor-in-possession proceedings are in-court restructuring proceedings to rescue and rehabilitate financially distressed companies. Each company is allowed to manage the restructuring process itself, supervised by an insolvency monitor and generally supported by restructuring experts with relevant experience in this field. The preliminary proceedings, that last between 2 and 3 months, are followed by the main proceedings, in the course of which the creditors can file their claims.