BASE Group firms Sicam, Werther request creditor arrangement

Tyre servicing equipment manufacturers Sicam and Werther International have requested an arrangement with creditors. The two associated companies are part of the Beissbarth Automotive Service Equipment (BASE) Group, controlled by Bavarian company Stargate Capital. The group also includes the UK’s Tecalemit, in addition to Beissbarth, Apac Lube, Accu-Turn, Oma, Tecnotest and Fog Automotive. Werther and Sicam are based in Italy

On 24 April, Werther International did not repay an instalment of approximately 2.5 million euro of an 8 million euro bond issued in 2018 with maturity in 2023 and a rate of more than 5 per cent. Stargate Capital therefore requested that the two companies and another subsidiary, Italgarage, be admitted to the arrangement with creditors at the court of Reggio on 12 May. The bankruptcy section assigned Werther and Sicam 120 days for the presentation of the composition proposal and the industrial plan.

The 2020 turnover of Cade, Italy firm Werther International was approximately 68 million euro, with a positive net result also confirmed in the first half of 2021. The company, however, has 27 million euro in payables to banks and 25 million euro to bondholders and other lenders.

Sicam, based in Correggio, which Stargate acquired together with Beissbarth from Bosch in 2018, suffered a drop in revenues from 39 million euro in 2017 to 28 million euro in 2020, with a 2020 budget 2 million euro in the red.

The court appointed Mirco Zucca for Werther and Massimiliano Fontani for Sicam and Colli Elisa for Italgarage as judicial commissioners.

“The Region takes action to protect the 102 workers of Sicam di Correggio, a company that in May asked the Court of Reggio Emilia for an arrangement with creditors,” said the regional councilor Federico Amico. The municipal council of Correggio approved an agenda to ask for clarification on the company’s current situation and its future. Sicam and Werther International employ around 200 people.