BBS under voluntary insolvency

[M3_Power 636]

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/news/wi...01854_14055.hbs

For those that can read German

Eine Auffanglösung sei gescheitert. Der Technologieführer bei hochwertigen Leichtmetallrädern hatte noch kurz zuvor den Wechsel an der Spitze des Aufsichtsrates mitgeteilt. Der frühere baden-württembergische Wirtschaftsminister Walter Döring sollte Hans-Peter Hirner (71) ablösen.

BBS hatte im August 2006 mitgeteilt, dass das Unternehmen wegen der stark in die Höhe geschnellten Aluminiumpreise eine Ergebnisdelle hinnehmen müsse. Das Nachsteuerergebnis sackte im ersten Halbjahr auf minus 3,8 Millionen Euro ab. Für das Gesamtjahr 2006 hatte BBS einen Umsatz von 200 Millionen Euro erwartet. Der Umsatz des Jahres 2005 lag bei 189,8 Millionen Euro. BBS beschäftigt im Konzern rund 1.200 Menschen.

Ernsthafte Liquiditätsschwierigkeiten

"Obwohl zum Zeitpunkt der Antragstellung noch aussichtsreiche Verhandlungen zur Wiederherstellung der Zahlungsfähigkeit des Unternehmens geführt wurden, war der Grund für die Antragstellung, dass die Gesellschaft in ernsthafte Liquiditätsschwierigkeiten geraten war und das Ende der Antragsfrist nach Paragraf 92 des Aktiengesetzes vor dem Ablauf stand", hieß es in der Mitteilung von BBS.

Zuletzt habe sich eine Lösung für die Wiederherstellung der Zahlungsfähigkeit abgezeichnet, die von den Großkunden des Unternehmens getragen werden sollte. Die Zusage der Großkunden, die erforderliche Liquidität durch größere Vorfälligkeitszahlungen bereitzustellen, seien auch erteilt worden. Die Umsetzung des Konzepts sei aber in der Nacht zum Dienstag am Widerstand einer der beteiligten Banken gescheitert, obwohl die Gesellschaft den finanzierenden Banken zum Zwecke der Fortsetzung der Finanzierung Sicherheiten eingeräumt habe. Eine Auffanglösung unter Ausklammerung der betreffenden Bank sei daher nicht mehr zu Stande gekommen.

Supposedly the translation:

BBS automotive technology places insolvency request 06.02.2007 16:37:00 Scold oh (aktiencheck.de AG) - the BBS automotive technology AG (ISIN DE0005196232/ WKN 519623), an offerer of high-quality light alloy wheels, announced on Tuesday that it placed 2007 insolvency request on 2 February. Although to the time of the filing of an application still promising negotiations were led to the re-establishment of the solvency of the enterprise, was reason for the filing of an application that the society was guessed/advised into serious liquidity difficulties and the end of the request period after § 92 Abs. stood for 2 of the law on limited companies before the expiration.

A solution for the re-establishment of the solvency of the enterprise appeared last, which should be carried by the big customers of the enterprise. The promises of the big customers to make the necessary liquidity available by larger Vorfaelligkeits payments were also given. The conversion of the concept failed however at the night to 6 February 2007 because of the resistance of one of the banks involved, although the society had granted for the purpose of the continuation of the financing collateral to the financing banks. A catching solution under excluding the bank concerned did not come off in the course of the today's daily. The share of BBS automotive technology notes in Frankfurt at present invariably with 9,00 euro. (06.02.2007/ac/n/nw) Source: Finanzen.net/Aktiencheck.de AG

[conrod 1]

BUGGER! I hope they can drag it out of there, BBS have been a huge part of worldwide motorsport over the last 30 or 40 years, and have been a prominent partner of BMW in that time, in both motorsport and road car wheels. I was about to price some wheels for my race car from them!

Oh well- fingers crossed!

[Guest Spargo]

They will be back - just need to restructure, pay off creditors.

This is the fault of everyone buying cheap replica rims. Sad to say.

[my_e36 43]

Silly question... Are the real BBS ones that much better given the price difference?

(never had aftermarket wheels on any of my cars, so..)

[E30-323ti 66]

This is the fault of everyone buying cheap replica rims. Sad to say.

I doubt that, I imagine the bulk of there sales will be for OEM and Race wheels, not the aftermarket tuner.

The rate at which aftermarket alloy wheel sales has increased should be proportionate to the increase in readily available cheap/knock-off wheels, rather than a transfer from known good quality suppliers (like BBS) to cheap wheels.

But yes it still would have hurt there sales to some extent.

[bravo 35]

Depends on what you want them for. Fake ones usually use inferior metals and so pit and corrode earlier, buckle and bend easier, and by way of trying to fix the latter, are often made much heavier.

The originals are stronger, lighter, better balanced and have greater longevity. Buy the fakes for posing, the real ones for anything else.

Like tools - the quality stuff is often thinner and lighter as they use stronger and better quality metals which also means they can be made to finer tolerances, and don't burr/wear as easily as the cheap stuff.

Edited February 8, 2007 by bravomikewhiskey

[Guest Spargo]

Gonna go ahead and say yes, they make their F1 wheels the same way as they do their road wheels - if its good enough for the Ferrari F1 team its good enough for me.

SPUN-RIM, FLOW-FORMING OR RIM ROLLING TECHNOLOGY

This specialized process begins with a low pressure type of casting and uses a special machine that spins the initial casting, heats the outer portion of the casting and then uses steel rollers pressed against the rim area to pull the rim to its final width and shape. The combination of the heat, pressure and spinning create a rim area with the strength similar to a forged wheel without the high cost of the forging. Some of the special wheels produced for the O.E.M. high performance or limited production vehicles utilize this type of technology resulting in a light and strong wheel at a reasonable cost. BBS has used this technology for several years in their production of racing wheels for Formula One and Indy cars. BBS's RC wheel for the aftermarket is an example of a wheel produced using spun rim technology.

FORGED OR SEMI-SOLID FORGED

In forged wheels, computer numerically controlled (CNC) mills add the cosmetics and the bolt circle to exacting tolerances.

The ultimate in one-piece wheels. Forging is the process of forcing a solid billet of aluminum between the forging dies under an extreme amount of pressure. This creates a finished product that is very dense, very strong and therefore can be very light. The costs of tooling, development, equipment, etc., make this type of wheel very exclusive and usually demand a high price in the aftermarket. Semi-solid forging (SSF) is a process that heats a billet of special alloy to an almost liquid state and then the aluminum is forced into a mold at a very high rate. The finished product offers mechanical properties very similar to a forged wheel without the high production and tooling costs of a forged wheel. When low weight and performance are on your priority list, the SSF technology offers an excellent value. Currently only SSR (Speed Star Racing) from Japan is licensed to use this process for the production of wheels.

Multi-Piece Wheels

This type of wheel utilizes two or three components assembled together to produce a finished wheel. Multi-piece wheels can use many different methods of manufacturing. Centers can be cast in various methods or forged. The rim sections for 3-piece wheels are normally spun from disks of aluminum. Generally, spun rim sections offer the ability to custom-tailor wheels for special applications that would not be available otherwise. The rim sections are bolted to the center and normally a sealant is applied in or on the assembly area to seal the wheel. This type of 3-piece construction was originally developed for racing in the early 1970s and has been used on cars ever since. The 3-piece wheels are most popular in the 17" and larger diameters.

There are now many options for 2-piece wheels in the market. The 2-piece wheel design does not offer as wide a range of application that a 3-piece wheel allows, however they are more common in the market and the prices start well below the average 3-piece wheel. Some 2-piece wheels have the center bolted into a cast or cast/spun rim section and other manufacturers press centers into spun rim sections and weld the unit together. When BBS developed a new 2-piece wheel to replace the previous 3-piece street wheel, they used the special rim-rolling technology (originally developed for racing wheels) to give the rim section the weight and strength advantages similar to a forged rim. On the high-end of the 2-piece wheel market you can find wheels using forged rims and forged centers. Since these are only sold in small volume and due to the high development and production costs associated with the forging process, they tend to be on the high end of the price scale.

[kerrynzl 3]

Looks like the BBS rims on my car are now worth more than the whole car

Seriously though, they'll be making profit on the wheels. It will be the day-to-day running of the company thats sinking them [uSA Co's have the same problem, & we're chasing them fast]

Another Co will buy all the assets [incl the name]& keep going [minus the liabilities]

"the good ol corporate sidestep"

[hybrid 1043]

I think im going to have a little cry ....

f**ken better be able to get my 18x8.5s , 18x9.5 BBS LMs when it come time in a couple of months for purchase