Germany

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.

The top judge at Germany's constitutional court questioned on Wednesday whether the strings attached to any bond purchases by the European Central Bank would be strict enough to protect German taxpayers, The Wall Street Journal reported. On the final day of hearings into the legality of the ECB's main measure for dealing with the euro-zone debt crisis, Andreas Vosskuhle, president of the court, said there were certain promises that can't always be kept.

Brussels is to propose giving itself powers to wind up failing eurozone banks, in an uncompromising banking union plan that pays little heed to Germany’s legal and political concerns. According to a summary of the “single resolution mechanism” proposal seen by the Financial Times, power to shut down banks would be centralised in the European Commission. Brussels would have the clout to overrule the bank’s home country and use funds from a central pot. The blueprint for the resolution authority is due to be published this month.