Leoni’s ability to restructure and that the company is fully financed confirmed by expert opinion in accordance with IDW S6

The expert opinion is based on a restructuring concept for the years 2020-2022 jointly developed by Leoni and external experts, which follows on from the VALUE 21 performance and strategy programme already being implemented and, in some respects, goes beyond it.

“This expert opinion gives us, our employees and all our partners additional security and confirms that we are on the right track with our performance and strategy programme VALUE 21. The measures will contribute to further stabilise our company. We are continuing to work tirelessly to get Leoni back on track and can focus on the implementation of the planned measures, most of which are already being executed, now that we have ensured that the company is fully financed,” says Aldo Kamper, CEO of Leoni AG.

Measures to ensure Leoni is fully financed  

The most important measures ensuring that Leoni is fully financed include the substantial expansion of the existing factoring programmes, sale-and-leaseback transactions of assets in Germany and China, and the restructuring of existing bilateral credit lines into another syndicated credit line. The measure will lead to an improvement in the maturity profile as the corresponding financing volume would be firmly committed until the end of 2022. The restructuring of the credit lines will have no impact on the existing syndicated credit facility from 2018. The new syndicated credit line will not increase the Group’s current financing scope taking into account the repayment of the promissory note loans (Schuldscheine) due in 2020. To ensure that it is fully financed, Leoni has committed not to pay a dividend until the restructured credit lines have been repaid.

Hans-Joachim Ziems has been appointed to Executive Board

The Supervisory Board of Leoni AG has decided to appoint Hans-Joachim Ziems to the Executive Board as Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO) from 1 April 2020.

Hans Joachim Ziems will be responsible for the implementation and coordination of the measures. He is an experienced restructuring expert and is already working for the company as a fully authorised representative. He will be responsible for the implementation of the restructuring concept.

Dr. Klaus Probst, Chair of the Supervisory Board of Leoni AG, says: “With his many years of experience and expertise, Hans Joachim Ziems is an ideal addition to our management team. We have a clearly defined action plan to stabilise and strengthen Leoni. As a member of the Executive Board, Mr. Ziems will continue to drive forward the implementation of the measures and discussions with key stakeholders as CRO.”

At the annual press conference on 30 March 2020, the Executive Board will report on the progress made in the implementation of the VALUE 21 performance and strategy programme, the results of the S6 expert opinion and the initiated measures.