Varta faces breakup: Creditor banks pull the plug on restructuring

A spokesperson for the creditor group comprising Deutsche Bank, Blantyre, RBC Bluebay and Whitebox stated: "Trotz intensiver Gespräche mit allen Stakeholdern ist von keiner Seite eine Zusage zur Bereitstellung der erforderlichen zusätzlichen Finanzmittel eingegangen." The creditors now intend to exercise their contractual rights under the financing agreements of the 2024 restructuring. Varta's management has been granted a grace period, but only until the 12th of the current month.

Failure of the 2024 restructuring

To prevent insolvency, the company had already filed for restructuring proceedings under the Stabilization and Restructuring Act in July 2024. This restructuring, known as StaRUG proceedings, was evidently not successful. The debts remained, the revenue situation worsened, and negotiations with the banks ultimately did not lead to additional fresh money. As "Wirtschaftswoche" reported, the creditors had been able to let the loans expire at any time since then – but there had initially been a "reprieve."

After the failure of the first restructuring, Varta announced the closure of a plant in Nördlingen, Bavaria, where around 350 people worked. The background was a hard blow: Apple had decided to use a new supplier from China for the production of button-cell batteries for its Airpods in the future. This eliminated a key major order for the plant, which is now to be finally closed in October.

Loss of the Apple contract and stock market decline

The economic problems had previously already had dramatic consequences for shareholders. A rapid expansion course had brought the company into a precarious position. Varta shares were delisted in 2025, which was effectively tantamount to expropriation of retail investors. As early as July 2024, various analysts such as DZ BANK, Warburg Research and Berenberg had rated the stock "Sell," underscoring the critical situation of the group at an early stage.

According to available information, MT-Invest of Austrian investor Michael Tojner holds 32 percent of the company, an investment company of Porsche AG also holds 32 percent, and other investors hold the remaining 36 percent. Both main shareholders – Tojner's Montana Group and Porsche – had so far not been willing to inject more money, according to "Wirtschaftswoche." Porsche had already stepped in in 2024 to support Varta; the joint battery business called CellForce, which now has only 50 employees, is to be completely wound down, according to information from this week.

Tojner announces rescue of individual divisions

Michael Tojner expressed regret in a written statement and lamented the step taken by the financing banks, "der in dieser Form leider voraussehbar war." He announced that his Montana Group would "darum bemühen wird, die Microbattery-Sparte und das Solutionsgeschäft aus dem Sanierungsverfahren herauszulösen, um das Know-how in der Batterieproduktion in Europa zu behalten und weiterzuführen." As "FAZ" reported on Wednesday, the household batteries business unit will be spun off in this way and a new ownership structure will be sought for the remaining rest.

Tojner also stated that "in den vergangenen Wochen intensive Gespräche mit den Banken über eine tragfähige Zukunftsperspektive geführt" had taken place and that work was underway on a detailed concept "um mit den verbleibenden Unternehmensteilen die Varta Gruppe in Nischenbereichen zu positionieren." European battery production in particular faces major structural problems. He told the "KURIER": "Hohe Energiepreise, hohe Lohnkosten und andere Standortnachteile machen die Entwicklung des Batteriegeschäftes in Europa im Vergleich zu Asien zu einer großen Herausforderung." According to the statement, the planned solution would also take into account the Varta sites in Graz and Romania.

It had already become clear in the summer of 2024 that with the loss of major customer Apple, Varta could not be continued in its existing form. Tojner spoke at the time of the need for a "weiteren Sanierungsschritts" and announced to the "Augsburger Allgemeine" that this would "mit einem weiteren Sanierungsverfahren und harten Einschnitten verbunden sein." These cuts are likely to affect the workforce.

Consequences for employees

Varta employs around 4,000 people worldwide, about 3,000 of them in Germany. The looming breakup hits the region around the headquarters in Ellwangen particularly hard. Fabian Fink, second authorized representative and managing director of IG Metall Aalen and Schwäbisch Gmünd, called the situation "eine riesige Katastrophe" to the "Augsburger Allgemeine" and warned: "Arbeitsplätze und Existenzen stehen auf dem Spiel – auch die vieler Familien." The union demanded swift transparency from the company and talks with employee representatives.

With the creditors' now-announced course of action, the situation is worsening for thousands of employees. If the creditor group actually exercises its contractual rights, the company is likely to slide into formal insolvency proceedings with subsequent realization of assets. In this case, parts would be sold to other investors, other business areas shut down. The role of Porsche and MT-Invest Tojner as main shareholders will be put to the test – both had refused to inject their own capital and now risk losing their influence on the remaining company through the insolvency proceedings.

Symbol of the crisis in the European battery industry

Varta was for decades a symbol of German battery and storage technology and was regarded as a showcase company for European micro-battery production. With the loss of the Apple contract and the failed expansion, this position shattered. Industry experts see the Varta crisis as an example of the structural problems of European battery manufacturers in competition with Asian rivals, which have clear advantages in terms of prices and economies of scale. The European Union had invested billions in recent years in building up domestic cell production, but the Varta case shows the limits of such efforts.

Whether the Microbattery division and the Solutions business can be continued in their current form now depends on how quickly Tojner's Montana Group finds a solution with the creditors. The deadline until the 12th of the month will be a test. If no agreement on viable financing is reached in this time, the sale of individual business parts to third parties threatens – with all the consequences for the remaining employees and for the business location of Baden-Württemberg.

The coming days are considered decisive for the future of Varta. If the restructuring ends in a breakup, this is likely to cast a spotlight not only on the situation of the European battery industry, but also to set in motion a political debate about industrial policy, location costs and subsidy policy. IG Metall already announced resistance and the search for socially acceptable solutions in the event of a site closure in Nördlingen.