Vitkovice Mechanika Gains Strategic Investor – Supermetal

Vitkovice a.s.

Ostrava, North Moravia, July 27 (CTK) – Vitkovice Mechanika, a unit of Vitkovice Machinery Group (VMG) of entrepreneur Jan Svetlik, will gain a strategic investor – Supermetal company, Vitkovice spokeswoman Eva Kijonkova told CTK today.

 

This will be a part of Vitkovice Mechanika’s reorganisation whose proposal Vitkovice submitted to the Regional Court in Ostrava together with the insolvency proposal today. Reorganisation was approved by most of the creditors, she added.

 

Vitkovice Mechanika has debts worth some Kc416m, this is why it wants to undergo reorganisation with the entry of an investor.

 

“The investor will secure financing of production and enable payment of more money to the creditors than what they would get if the company ended operations,” Kijonkova said.

 

Vitkovice Mechanika will thus become another company to be sold by VMG.

 

Supermetal belongs to E-Invest firm of entrepreneur Martin Ulcak who already bought Hutni montaze from Svetlik and made a capital investment in VMG’s another member, Vitkovice Gearworks.

 

Vitkovice Mechanika focuses on equipment for material transport and processing and services in the engineering and energy industries. It now has 237 employees who, as Kijonkova said, will not lose their job.

 

“The most important thing is that over a half of the secured and unsecured creditors have backed reorganisation and that an investor has been found for Mechanika,” said Michaela Zvakova, board chairwoman of Vitkovice parent company.

 

Vitkovice Mechanika faced insolvency proposals twice in the past years but the court dismissed them at that time.

 

VMG’s companies have around 2,000 employees, as recently as three years ago the group employed over 8,000 people.