Munich-based electric motorcycle manufacturer Black Tea Motorbikes has entered preliminary insolvency proceedings, ThePack.news reported. On July 14, 2026, the Munich District Court ordered preliminary insolvency administration over Black Tea Motorbikes GmbH, appointing Munich lawyer Florian Loserth as preliminary administrator. His task is to assess the company’s financial situation, secure its remaining assets, and determine whether continued operation or restructuring is possible. Formal insolvency proceedings have not yet been opened.

Steidl, the internationally known German-language publisher founded in 1969 in Göttingen, Germany, by Gerhard Steidl, is in the throes of financial difficulties so severe that it has wound up in court, Artforum reported. German daily Der Spiegel reports that the publisher filed to start preliminary insolvency proceedings on July 12 after struggling to pay employees regularly for months, with some workers going as long as five or six months without remuneration.

Non-food discounter Kodi, which operates about 150 stores in Germany, is fighting for its survival through bankruptcy proceedings for the second time in two years, Retail Detail reported. Several other German retailers are also facing tough times. For the second time since late 2024, Kodi has filed for bankruptcy in the hope of a fresh start. That will be no easy task for the household goods discounter: “According to current estimates, Kodi will have to close about 50 of its current 150 stores,” reported Managing Shareholder Fabian Grund in a letter to staff.

A group of investors holding roughly $9 billion of Altice International’s bonds delivered the telecommunications operator a notice of default Tuesday, alleging the company breached debt agreements through complex intercompany loans and asset transfers, according to people familiar with the matter, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The bondholder group is forming a new cooperation agreement to present a united front as it seeks remedies for the claimed default, the people said.

German ‌Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday all but ruled out another reform of the debt brake during this parliamentary term, the first time he has spoken so clearly about the prospects for changing the borrowing limit, Reuters reported. "The hurdles for ​another amendment to the debt brake are extremely high," Merz said.

Uber is set to take over Delivery Hero in a deal valuing the German food delivery company ​at about €12.5 billion ($14.34 billion), the Financial Times reported ‌on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Delivery Hero confirmed it was in advanced negotiations with Uber regarding a potential takeover offer on Tuesday. Acquiring Delivery Hero, which has ​a market value of roughly €11.6 billion, would expand ⁠the Uber Eats food-delivery network in Europe, the Middle ​East, Asia and Latin America.

Bönning + Sommer, a family-owned manufacturer based in Warburg, Germany, has filed for insolvency, with attorney Dr Yorck Tilman Streitbörger appointed as provisional administrator, InteriorDaily.com reported. The company produces up to 300,000 mattresses annually and supplies other manufacturers, having acquired the former La Pur foam plant in 2024. The administrator attributed the company's difficulties to intense market competition, expanding low-cost production, including Ikea's growing presence, and rising imports of compressed mattresses from China.

For decades, thousands of niche, world-class manufacturers that form the backbone of the German economy relied on an unassailable moat: unmatched quality. Now that moat is drying up, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Mittelstand—a broad tier of midsize manufacturers, mainly specialized in capital and intermediate goods and reliant on exports—once thrived by making machines for factories everywhere. But China is now closing the quality gap and offering prices as low as half those of their European rivals.

Business operations at FOLBB’s two sites in Germany and Netherlands reportedly continue without restrictions, wages and salaries are secured through insolvency benefits, and the company is seeking an investor solution, FastMarkets.com reported. In Germany, the District Court of Rottweil appointed Jan Markus Plathner of the law firm Brinkmann & Partner as provisional insolvency administrator. According to the law firm, the FOLBB subsidiaries had been under considerable economic pressure due to persistently high energy costs, structural overcapacity and a challenging market environment.

Lenders of Northern Fiber Holding GmbH, a struggling German fiber-network operator formerly owned by UBS Asset Management, are finalizing the sale of the company to iCON Infrastructure to avoid a looming insolvency, Bloomberg News reported. For any deal to take place, all the lenders who have together provided the company more than €300 million ($343.4 million) need to consent, according to people familiar with the matter.