Germany

Efforts in China to broaden a pilot program that deploys property taxes aimed at taming the real estate market are running into difficulties, showing the limits of a tool that supporters say could help stem rising housing costs and official corruption, the Wall Street Journal reported today. New housing data released yesterday underscore the challenges that Beijing faces in controlling home-price increases.

Hedge funds holding bonds in insolvent German DIY retailer Praktiker want to convert a 250 million euro ($327 million) bond into Praktiker shares, Reuters reported yesterday. Praktiker filed for insolvency last week after talks with creditors failed, triggering fears of heavy job losses. The insolvency administrators are continuing to keep the business running while they review options for a restructuring of the German chain. Read more.

German high-end television maker Loewe AG's chief executive said that the move to file for protection from creditors' demands will speed up its search for an investor, Reuters reported yesterday. "Now we have three months' time to finish restructuring and make enough progress on the matter of finding an investor that the court and creditors agree to a plan," Matthias Harsch said.

A leading shareholder of insolvent German home improvement retailer Praktiker is considering buying out banks in a move to save the company, Germany's leading tabloid newspaper reported on Saturday. "An insolvency is not the end. Together with other investors we are considering buying the loans held by banks," Isabella de Krassny told Bild. She and her husband Alain de Krassny together own about 15 percent of Germany's No. 3 DIY chain, according to Thomson Reuters data. Praktiker could return to profitability if costs were cut substantially, de Krassny told the paper.

Praktiker AG, the German home-improvement chain formerly owned by Metro AG, filed for insolvency after the sale of a division collapsed, and said it will focus on restructuring the business, Bloomberg reported. Units that own the Praktiker and Extra-Bau+Hobby stores and online outlets applied at Hamburg’s local court for protection from creditors, the Kirkel-based retailer said today in a statement. The Max Bahr chain won’t be affected by the insolvency move, it said.

Germany swiftly rejected the European Commission's proposal for a single authority to wind down failing euro-zone banks Wednesday, signaling a rift between the European Union's executive and its biggest economy over the next step in exiting the region's debt crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported. The proposal on bank resolution—the so-called "single resolution mechanism"—announced Wednesday was to form the second pillar in the euro-zone's banking union project which aims to sever the toxic link between troubled euro-zone banks and their sovereigns.

Praktiker AG (PRA), a German home-improvement retailer, said it’s considering insolvency for itself and units after some of its creditors didn’t approve more financing. Excessive debt and lack of liquidity are reasons for declaring insolvency, the company said in a statement today. Alternative financing became necessary after the company failed to sell a stake in Luxembourg-based unit Batiself SA because the buyer’s board didn’t approve a deal, Praktiker said. Proceeds from a sale had been “firmly included” in the retailer’s financing plan from last year, it said.

German and French businesses will see their borrowing costs tumble by tens of billions of euros over the coming years thanks to aggressive central bank action to lower the cost of funding. Countries in the credit starved periphery – the main target of easy monetary policy – will continue to struggle however, and will benefit far less from a projected €42bn reduction in debt payments over the next five years, according to an FT analysis of European Central Bank data.

It was announced that Gehrlicher Solar filed for insolvency in Munich, Germany, making it the latest loss of a German solar company following Conergy's announcement last week, Solar Novus Today reported. The company employs approximately 250 people and has subsidiaries and joint ventures throughout the world. Details of how the employees and businesses will be affected have not yet been disclosed.

German solar group Conergy has filed for insolvency, putting about 800 jobs at risk and becoming the latest casualty in an industry battered by overcapacity, plunging prices and a trade dispute between Europe and China, Climate Spectator reported. Once Europe's largest solar company, Conergy has been fighting for months to secure fresh investment and a deal with its creditors, and earlier this week it had looked close to an agreement.