Several German subsidiaries of First Brands Group have filed for insolvency, in a sign that the fallout from the US car parts supplier’s September bankruptcy is rippling through to its foreign operations, Bloomberg News reported. The insolvencies affected entities of automotive supplier Plastic Manufacturing Group, which is owned by First Brands, according to a statement from Schultze & Braun, whose lawyer has been appointed provisional administrator.

The agency group detailM GmbH, which included the affiliate network belboon and the SEO agency seo2b GmbH, most recently employed around 160 people. In April of this year, the group filed for insolvency, according to a company press release. seo2b GmbH, based in Trier, was founded in 2013 and developed over the years into one of the leading agencies in the field of search engine optimization. In 2018, ARCUS Capital AG, together with co-investors, acquired a majority stake in detailM GmbH, which included belboon GmbH and the newly acquired seo2b GmbH.

Polish battery manufacturer BMZ has announced the insolvency of two German subsidiaries: BMZ Germany GmbH and BMZ Holding GmbH, both headquartered in Karlstein am Main. As reported by the trade agency electrive, citing an official release by the company, both insolvency proceedings have been initiated under self-administration and were approved by the Aschaffenburg local court on October 24, Sustainable-Bus.com reported. In the bus business, BMZ is mainly know as the provider of NMC4 modules adopted by Daimler Buses on its eCitaro range (starting in 2026), as announced already in 2024.

U.S. sanctions on Russian oil producer Rosneft have rekindled discussions in Germany about nationalising the company's business there, including a refinery that Berlin depends on for most of its fuel, two sources familiar with the talks told Reuters. The situation highlights the complex web linking Germany with Russia, which supplied Europe's industrial powerhouse with energy in the decades leading up to the war in Ukraine. The U.S. Treasury said on Wednesday it had issued a licence exempting Rosneft's German arm from the U.S.

More than half of German and European machinery exports to the United States could be hit by new tariffs if Washington expands its list in December, the German Engineering Federation VDMA said on Wednesday, urging the European Union to renegotiate the tariff deal, Reuters reported. The federation, which represents 3,600 machinery and plant engineering companies, said 56% of exports could be affected by steel and aluminium tariffs, up from around 40% after an initial expansion in August. "This affects virtually all branches of mechanical engineering.

A German battery-maker partly owned by the investment firm of BMW AG heiress Susanne Klatten filed for insolvency for some of its key units, citing the loss of an unnamed customer, Bloomberg News reported. BMZ Group, which manufactures lithium-ion battery systems, said that two of its units had filed for insolvency proceedings, according to a statement dated Oct. 24. The loss of a major customer in the energy storage sector led to legal disputes and increased costs, prompting a liquidity crisis, it said.

Syntace GmbH has announced that it has filed for insolvency as it continues ongoing restructuring following its separation from Pierer Mobility AG, PinkBike.com reported. In a public statement, Syntace GmbH, the parent company of Syntace and Liteville, revealed that it filed for insolvency on October 14 and is currently in "very advanced discussions" with an investor.

Electric aircraft startup Lilium may have ceased operations a year ago, but its insolvency filing wasn’t quite the end of the German-based company, TechCrunch.com reported. There were multiple failed attempts to restructure the company, including a last-ditch effort by Mobile Uplift Corporation, a company set up by investors from Europe and North America, to acquire the operating assets of the startup’s two subsidiaries. Ultimately, a bankruptcy administrator put the company’s assets through a competitive bid process.

The number of companies sliding into insolvency in Germany rose by 10.4 per cent in September compared to the year before, according to preliminary data, the Brussels Signal reported. This was announced by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on October 13. The final tally for July – which was published on the same date – shows that insolvency rose by 13.4 per cent year-on-year in the month. The preliminary data is based on insolvency announcements from German courts that are later complemented by official statistics to arrive at the final number.

Archer Aviation has emerged as the winning bidder for Lilium’s extensive portfolio of advanced air mobility patents, ZagDaily.com reported. The California-based company has secured around 300 intellectual property assets for €18 million following a competitive process that also involved Joby Aviation and the Ambitious Air Mobility Group (AAMG). Announced at the NBAA Business Aviation Convention in Las Vegas, the deal marks the latest chapter in Lilium’s drawn-out insolvency proceedings and underscores the growing consolidation in the advanced air mobility (AAM) sector.