One of the biggest sim racing hardware manufacturers is filing for insolvency: Endor AG, the parent company of Fanatec, now took this step. Corsair is out as a strategic investor.
The drama surrounding Fanatec and its parent company Endor AG continues. After its founder Thomas Jackermeier was ousted as CEO earlier this year, the plan was for the company to revitalize itself via the StaRUG procedure, with US hardware giant Corsair acting as a strategic investor to provide bridge financing. Once Endor would be financially stable again, Corsair intended to take over the company.
More recently, rumors about suppliers going on strike appeared, and a Extraordinary General Meeting was authorized to be held by two shareholders by the Local Court of Landshut. The purpose of this meeting, among other things, would be to withdraw confidence form the current Management Board.
According to the latest press release of Endor AG, this led to the original plan not being carried out: "The reason for this was the request by the former CEO and majority shareholder to convene an extraordinary general meeting in order to prevent a reorganisation under the StaRUG without presenting a viable alternative scenario." Currently, Endor is facing liabilities of €95 million, according to the press release.
"At the same time, negotiations with the majority shareholder on a financial reorganisation involving all shareholders have been taking place in recent weeks. However, these negotiations had to be broken off without result due to unrealistic demands."
As a result of these "ongoing disruptions", Corsair decided not to make additional payments. The company has received several design trademarks of Fanatec products as "collateral against the loans", as Corsair told OverTake when queried about the reason for the trademarks changing hands. At the time of writing this article, these trademarks are still with Corsair.
Render of a Porsche Vision GT sim racing wheel included in the patent filing currently owned by Corsair. Image: Fanatec/Corsair/DPMA
Whether or not they stay with the company, Corsair might not be out of the frame entirely after all. The press release informing about the insolvency filing also contains the following paragraph:
"The Management Board is confident that the company will be taken over by an investor in the course of the insolvency proceedings; at the same time, the Management Board assumes that CORSAIR is still interested in acquiring Endor AG."
Andres Ruff, who succeeded Jackermeier as Endor CEO, adds: "We would like to thank our customers, employees and business partners for their trust and support over the past months. As part of the insolvency proceedings, we will continue the restructuring and work at full speed to reorganise the company. We are confident that we will emerge stronger from this situation and return to a sustainable, profitable growth path."
What are your thoughts on Endor AG filing for bankruptcy? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
The drama surrounding Fanatec and its parent company Endor AG continues. After its founder Thomas Jackermeier was ousted as CEO earlier this year, the plan was for the company to revitalize itself via the StaRUG procedure, with US hardware giant Corsair acting as a strategic investor to provide bridge financing. Once Endor would be financially stable again, Corsair intended to take over the company.
More recently, rumors about suppliers going on strike appeared, and a Extraordinary General Meeting was authorized to be held by two shareholders by the Local Court of Landshut. The purpose of this meeting, among other things, would be to withdraw confidence form the current Management Board.
According to the latest press release of Endor AG, this led to the original plan not being carried out: "The reason for this was the request by the former CEO and majority shareholder to convene an extraordinary general meeting in order to prevent a reorganisation under the StaRUG without presenting a viable alternative scenario." Currently, Endor is facing liabilities of €95 million, according to the press release.
StaRUG Procedure Fails
The mention of "the former CEO" points in the direction of Jackermeier being one of the shareholders calling for the Extraordinary General Meeting. However, the ruling in favor of the meeting was not the only reason on the StaRUG plan falling apart, according to the press release:"At the same time, negotiations with the majority shareholder on a financial reorganisation involving all shareholders have been taking place in recent weeks. However, these negotiations had to be broken off without result due to unrealistic demands."
As a result of these "ongoing disruptions", Corsair decided not to make additional payments. The company has received several design trademarks of Fanatec products as "collateral against the loans", as Corsair told OverTake when queried about the reason for the trademarks changing hands. At the time of writing this article, these trademarks are still with Corsair.
Render of a Porsche Vision GT sim racing wheel included in the patent filing currently owned by Corsair. Image: Fanatec/Corsair/DPMA
Whether or not they stay with the company, Corsair might not be out of the frame entirely after all. The press release informing about the insolvency filing also contains the following paragraph:
"The Management Board is confident that the company will be taken over by an investor in the course of the insolvency proceedings; at the same time, the Management Board assumes that CORSAIR is still interested in acquiring Endor AG."
"Numerous Wrong Decisions In Recent Years"
The current Management Board also highlighted that it "sees the reasons for the massive corporate crisis in numerous wrong management decisions in recent years. Examples include the oversized construction of the new company headquarters, miscalculated chip and merchandise orders that led to high write-downs and failures to introduce processes and systems worth millions."Andres Ruff, who succeeded Jackermeier as Endor CEO, adds: "We would like to thank our customers, employees and business partners for their trust and support over the past months. As part of the insolvency proceedings, we will continue the restructuring and work at full speed to reorganise the company. We are confident that we will emerge stronger from this situation and return to a sustainable, profitable growth path."
What changes for sim racers now?
All business background aside, what does this mean for sim racers? The press release adresses this as well, stating that "business operations will continue." While takeover processes continue in the background, day-to-day operations including "sales and warranty repair services will continue without restriction, and customers will continue to receive driver and software updates."What are your thoughts on Endor AG filing for bankruptcy? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
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