Germany

German solar company S.A.G. Solarstrom AG has filed for insolvency, making it the latest in a string of photovoltaic companies to buckle under intense international competition, The Wall Street Journal reported. Delayed cash inflows left the company in a liquidity squeeze, S.A.G. Solarstrom said Friday, and talks with banks, financial services providers and other creditors have been unable to secure the liquidity needed to guarantee the timely payment of liabilities. "Altogether, a sum of over €20 million ($27.5 million) is lacking.

SAG Solarstrom AG said that it would file for insolvency, becoming the latest casualty of a solar industry crisis that has claimed many of its peers over the last two years, Reuters reported today. The small German company, which builds and operates solar power plants, said today that talks with banks and creditors over refinancing the business had broken down. As a result it would make no interest payment on Dec. 16 for its 2010/2015 bond.

Eastern Germany's savings banks have written down their stake in stricken Landesbank Berlin (LBB) to 1 euro, the head of the association representing them said. "We have drawn a line under it in the hope that we're through now," OSV President Michael Ermrich told Reuters, adding that he did not expect a dividend from LBB in the next two to three years. On Friday, sources had told Reuters that Germany's savings banks would have to shoulder as much as 1.2 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in further writedowns on LBB, which is being dismantled into a savings bank and a real estate business.

ATU Auto-Teile-Unger, the German car repair and tire chain owned by KKR & Co., will be taken over by lenders following a debt restructuring, Bloomberg reported. Shareholders and a majority of senior bondholders agreed to write off more than 600 million euros ($816 million) of debt to cut cash interest costs by more than 90 percent, Weiden, Germany-based ATU said in a statement today. The company was downgraded to ‘selective default’ by Standard & Poor’s after the deal was announced.

Last time we heard of Wiesmann, the German manufacturer of retro-styled sports cars, things were not good at all. In August this year, the carmaker filed for insolvency at a local court in Münster and went under the protection of an administrator, CarScoops.com reported. Fortunately, it seems that the management has found ways to escape death, as Wiesmann has posted a short statement on its website saying it has requested the court to end the bankruptcy procedure.

Some German insurers may fail in the wake of tough new European capital rules for the industry due to come into force in 2016, Germany's top insurance supervisor said, Reuters reported. "I'm not sure that all insurers will make it," Felix Hufeld, head of insurance at German watchdog Bafin, told a conference at the University of Frankfurt late on Tuesday.

Fifty-eight of the 73 stores of insolvent German home improvement retailer Max Bahr are likely to be saved in a deal with supermarket chain Globus, two people familiar with the negotiations said on Tuesday. Max Bahr was due to start clearance sales on Wednesday, like those currently being held at stores of its parent company Praktiker, which has also filed for insolvency. But German group Globus has reached a last-minute agreement with Royal Bank of Scotland, which owns 66 of Max Bahr's stores, and contracts should be signed on Wednesday, one of the sources said.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Saturday that there were no longer any risks of contagion in the euro zone, and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras stressed his country did not need a further bailout, Reuters reported. Schaeuble said Greece's achievements in the last 1-1/2 years, which included better-than-expected growth and progress in reducing its deficit, merited respect. He also pointed to the decline in the difference between yields on German and Greek bonds.

German savers angry over low interest rates are complicating the European Central Bank's efforts to keep Europe from sliding into a downward spiral of falling prices and economic stagnation, The Wall Street Journal reported. But the uproar in Europe's biggest economy over the ECB's latest interest-rate cut earlier this month to a record-low 0.25% is unlikely to stop the ECB from pursuing radical measures if needed to avoid a decade of economic malaise. For while Germany still matters greatly, it has lost its perceived veto at the ECB on major decisions.

Germany was once known for its superfast autobahns, efficient industry and ability to rally public resources for big projects, like integration with the former East Germany. But more recently, it has been forced to confront a somewhat uncharacteristic problem: Its infrastructure — roads, bridges, train tracks, waterways and the like — is aging in a way that experts say could undermine its economic growth for years to come, the International New York Times reported. As it has been preaching austerity to its neighbors, Germany itself has kept a tight rein on spending at home.