Germany

German landlord Adler Group SA is looking to refinance senior debt it took out as part of a restructuring earlier this year in an effort to lower its servicing costs, Bloomberg News reported. Adler is looking at a number of options to reduce the cost of its first lien debt, including using proceeds from asset sales to repay part of it. It has also approached investors to refinance some debt at a lower rate. Talks about Adler’s options are at preliminary stages and might not lead to a deal.

Volkswagen plans to shut at least three factories in Germany, lay off tens of thousands of staff and shrink its remaining plants in Europe's biggest economy as it plots a deeper-than-expected overhaul, the company's works council head said on Monday, Reuters reported. Europe's biggest carmaker has been negotiating for weeks with unions over plans to revamp its business and cut costs, including considering plant closures on home soil for the first time, in a blow to Germany's industrial prowess.

Lilium NV said its main subsidiaries may be forced to file for insolvency proceedings within days as the electric flying taxi firm struggles to raise enough funding to continue operations, Bloomberg News reported. The subsidiaries have become “overindebted” and won’t be able to pay existing liabilities, according to a filing on Thursday. Management of the units has told the parent company that they will have to file for insolvency under German law and will apply for self-administration proceedings, the filing said. The startup’s shares fell as much as 63% as of 10:39 a.m.

German automakers should not be afraid of competition from China, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday at the opening of Mercedes-Benz's first battery recycling plant, an investment he described as part of Germany's new industrial policy agenda, Reuters reported. "Some say that China can do much better with electric motors than us," Scholz said.

Germany’s ruling coalition will repeal a tax rule that limits the use of derivatives losses to offset profits on investments, according to a government member, Bloomberg News reported. “The restriction on offsetting gains with losses from derivatives and total wipe-outs is finally going to end,” Katja Hessel, a deputy finance minister, said in a post on X. The regulation was introduced by the previous German government in 2020. It restricts investors’ ability to use losses in some instruments to lower their tax bills on gains in other investments, a practice known as netting, in two ways.

Germany’s government has selected banks to arrange a potential selldown of power company Uniper SE, which could rank among the country’s biggest share sales in recent years, Bloomberg News reported. Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG and UBS Group AG have been appointed as joint global coordinators on the potential offering, the people said, declining to be identified because the information is private. More banks could be added to the lineup ahead of the share sale in the first quarter of next year.

German manufacturing orders plunged more than expected in August, adding further gloom to the struggling sector that offers little sign of a recovery, the Wall Street Journal reported. Orders fell 5.8% on month in August, according to data published Monday by Germany’s statistics agency Destatis. That was weaker than economists’ expectations for a 2.0% drop, according to a Wall Street Journal poll, and contrasts with an upwardly revised 3.9% increase in July orders.

Commerzbank AG has accelerated strategic planning as it seeks to prepare for a potential takeover offer from rival UniCredit SpA, Bloomberg News reported. “Normally, we would not have started this until next year,” Chief Executive Officer Bettina Orlopp told German business daily Handelsblatt in an interview published Monday, referring to internal discussions about the lender’s strategy beyond 2027.

Munich-based flying taxi startup Lilium is facing mounting liquidity issues, according to its half year report published this week, Sifted.eu reported. The company says that it “immediately requires additional capital to continue to finance its ongoing operations” and will be forced to cut costs, reduce operations or file for insolvency if it cannot raise fresh funding. The stark warning comes just months after Lilium raised $114m from investors in May.