| MUNICH, Germany — The trouble about the insolvency of BenQ Mobile continues: According to newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the company was bankrupt already in May 2006 — well before it actually filed for insolvency. In this context, insolvency administrator Martin Prager plans a claim against Siemens AG as the former owner of the company.
"Upon detailed examination of the case, I am sure that BenQ Mobile was insolvent on May 1st, 2006 at latest," Prager told Sueddeutsche Zeitung. The company however filed for insolvency only on September 29. According to German law, delay in filing for insolvency is a crime, and the prosecution already has launched an inquiry.
In June 2005, former owner Siemens group had virtually given away its ailing mobile handset activities to Taiwanese electronics group BenQ, along with a triple-digit euro dower. Prager already earlier has sued BenQ for compensation of about �100 million (about $157 million). In case BenQ Mobile actually would have been insolvent earlier, this amount could climb to more than half a billion euros, the paper quotes Prager.
Now Prager announced that he is preparing a claim against Siemens AG as the former owner of the insolvent company. According to Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the claim is about valuation issues during the transfer of the operations. The value of the claim is said to be in the triple-digit euro range.
It is possible that Prager’s announcement is only a threat against Siemens. According to Reuters Germany, the negotiations between Prager and Siemens recently have stalled.
Neither Prager nor Siemens were available to comment.
The BenQ Mobile insolvency is one of the largest insolvency cases in German history, with about 3000 jobs lost. (52RD.com) |
