German injection moulder Altmärker Kunststoff-Technik (Gardelegen; www.akt-ag.de) filed for insolvency on 6 January 2011. According to the filing, the company plans to continue operations after carrying out its own reforms. Altmärker’s three subsidiaries WEDO Formenbau und Kunststoffverarbeitung (Doberschau / Germany; www.wedo-formenbau.de), AKT Plásticos (Amorebieta / Spain) and AKT Plastikarska Technologie Cechy (Jablonec nad Nisou / Czech Republic) are not affected by the insolvency, which solely applies to the company holding, located at the Gardelegen headquarters.

All in all, the group employs some 1,700 workers, of which roughly 1,000 are based in Gardelegen. Company revenues came to about EUR 170m in 2010, and Altmärker expects sales to amount to about the same this year. Leading clients include OEMs like VW, Opel, Daimler, Porsche and BMW as well as tier-1 manufacturers Johnson Controls, Faurecia and IAC.

The insolvency filing probably is a long-term consequence of the crisis in the automotive industry. Both management and the appointed insolvency lawyer said they expect the restructuring plan to be wrapped up successfully this year.