Wittur: the restructuring goes to KKR. All the advisors

Wittur, a manufacturer of elevator components with approximately 5,000 employees, has reached an agreement with its creditors. In the financial restructuring, KKR replaces Bain as the main investor. At least a dozen law firms have advised the parties involved in this process.

The volume of the financing involved is estimated to be around one billion euros. This is supported by the fact that at the end of 2021, the parent company Wittur Holding reported 959 million euros in liabilities, more than half of which were loans to affiliated companies.

The Wittur group of companies has been producing and delivering elevator components since 1968. The conglomerate, headquartered in Sulzemoos, Upper Bavaria, is now intricately financed and organized. PSP Investments, one of Canada’s largest pension funds, was previously a minority owner alongside Bain Capital.

Last spring, the rating agency Moody’s downgraded its assessment well below investment grade by two notches, from Caa1 to Caa3. The downgrade also affected financing instruments such as an institutional capital market loan (Term Loan B), a revolving credit line, and a subordinated term loan. Apparently, negotiations with senior creditors had failed before. However, with the deal now concluded, New York-based investor KKR takes control of Wittur from Bain Capital.

Advisor KKR Credit Advisors (EMEA)

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (London): James Watson (lead; insolvency law)

Noerr (Frankfurt): Dr. Thomas Hoffmann (lead; insolvency law, pictured left), Prof. Dr. Thomas Klindt (dispute resolution; Munich), Michael Schuhmacher, Dr. Nikolai Warneke (both banking and finance law), Dr. Jens Schmidt (regulation; Brussels), Andre Happel (tax law), Dr. Florian Sippel (Private Equity), Dr. Till Kosche (M&A), Tillmann Hecht (labour law); Associates: Sabrina Lux (insolvency law), Emilia Etz (regulation; Brussels), Benedikt Rippert (tax law), Mirjam Meyer (Private Equity)

Advisor Wittur Group

In-house Legal (Sulzemoos): Marc Vendolsky (Chief Legal Counsel, pictured right)

Gleiss Lutz (Munich): Dr. Jan Balssen, Dr. Olaf Hohlefelder (both Private Equity), Dr. Andreas Spahlinger (Stuttgart), Dr. Christian Halàsz (London; both insolvency law, pictured center)

Ropes & Gray (London)

Kirkland & Ellis (London): Sean Lacey, Dr. Cristina Weidner (both lead; both insolvency law), Dr. Alexander Längsfeld (banking and finance law); Associates: Dr. Johannes Lappe, Dr. Donatus Wang (both insolvency law), Dr. Barbara Dunkel (banking and finance law), Dr. Thomas Hornberger (Corporate; all Munich), Ken Au, Fiona Ling, Patrick Campbell (all insolvency law)

Advisor Wittur Management

Taylor Wessing (Munich): Dr. Hendrik Boss (lead), Julia Siedhoff, Maik Luttmann; Associates: Dr. Josepha Biebl, Lisa Iwersen, Dr. Marc Popovic (all insolvency law)

Advisor PSP Investment

Weil Gotshal & Manges (London)

Advisor ad-hoc committee of senior creditors

Milbank (Frankfurt): Dr. Mathias Eisen (lead), Yushan Ng (London; both insolvency law), Barbara Mayer-Trautmann (banking and finance law), Dr. Thomas Kleinheisterkamp (tax law), Dr. Alexander Rinne (competition law; all Munich); Associates: Robert Kastl, Alexander Theisen, Sebastian Mayr, Justine Erickson (London; all insolvency law), Alexander Lang (banking and finance law; Munich)

Advisor to a group of Creditors

Linklaters