Loewe, the last major manufacturer of high-end television sets in Germany, is fighting for survival in a sector increasingly dominated in recent years by Asian rivals, The Sun Daily reported. Ironically, it is also hoping that its saviour would hail from Asia, the very region which is at the root of many of its current woes. Asked by the weekly magazine Der Spiegel whether Loewe will still exist in 12 months' time, the group's chairman Matthias Harsch replied: "That's the question I ask myself every morning.

Chinese state-controlled firm AVIC is to buy the commercial business of German aircraft engine maker Thielert, banking on a surge in demand for diesel plane engines in China and other emerging markets, Reuters reported. AVIC and Thielert, which filed for insolvency more than five years ago, did not provide financial details of the deal announced on Tuesday.

Deutsche Bank AG is accelerating plans to reduce the size of its balance sheet amid persistent concerns among regulators and investors on both sides of the Atlantic that the bank is carrying too much risk, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Deutsche Bank plans to increase its so-called leverage ratio, which measures the capital base against total assets, to 3 percent by 2015, by shedding assets and retaining earnings. The bank is required to meet the target by 2018. Most analysts put Deutsche Bank's current leverage ratio at around 2 percent, one of the lowest among major banks.

U.S. private-equity firm Kawa Capital Management Inc. agreed to take over Conergy AG, once Germany’s biggest solar company, two weeks after the Hamburg-based company filed for bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The transaction, due to be completed in the second half of August, will focus on Conergy’s main brand and most global sales and service activities, Conergy said. Conergy and its domestic counterparts are under pressure as subsidies for renewable energy fall at home and competition from China depresses margins and panel prices.

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.