Duesseldorf – On 1 November 2022, Düsseldorf District Court opened insolvency proceedings in relation to the assets of MANO Arbeitnehmer-Überlassungsgesellschaft mbH (MANO), which is based in Duesseldorf. As part of a rescue by way of transfer of assets, the insolvency administrator, CMS partner Dr Christian Holzmann, succeeded together with Tempton Personaldienstleistungen GmbH (Tempton) in protecting all the jobs. The bulk of the employees and clients were successfully transferred to Tempton after the opening of proceedings.
MANO operated for 44 years as a supplier of agency staff and in direct recruitment in the North Rhine-Westphalia region, mainly in Duesseldorf, Duisburg and Mönchengladbach, most recently employing around 100 people. Some 80 to 90 employees – mainly painters, machine operators, production workers and warehouse/transport staff – were regularly supplied to well-regarded businesses in North Rhine-Westphalia. The situation in the German labour market made it increasingly difficult and expensive to find and retain agency staff. This led to a sharp decline in the company’s revenues, which fell over the period 2017 to 2021 from almost EUR 10 million to approximately EUR 4.5 million. The company was ultimately no longer viable, mainly due to the failure to adjust its cost base.
As a result, management was forced to file for insolvency in a letter dated 9 September 2022. On 12 September 2022, Düsseldorf District Court appointed Dr Christian Holzmann as provisional insolvency administrator. He initially carried on the business operations in full. Staff wages and salaries were secured through pre-financing of insolvency payments. Support for this move was provided by DH Personalsachbearbeitung GmbH in conjunction with the Duesseldorf office of the Federal Employment Agency. The fast and reliable work of all those involved was pivotal in gaining the backing of the workforce for carrying on the business. Right from the beginning, the aim was to ensure that the insolvency (opening) proceedings would not have a negative impact either on employees or on clients. During the short but intense investor process, the administrators were able to get Tempton on board to take over the employees and client relationships while the company was still in provisional insolvency administration. By entering into a recruitment agreement, Tempton already agreed in principle to make a transfer offer to all employees after proceedings have been opened. This made it possible to save all the jobs while continuing to provide MANO’s clients with temporary staff. Significant liabilities arising from employment contracts thus do not need to be funded from the insolvency assets, which means more money will be available for satisfying the company’s creditors.
The insolvency administrator was supported by lawyer Dr Dominic Poster, who is a senior associate at CMS.
Tempton is a leading employment service provider in Germany. According to its own data, its client base numbers more than 10,000 companies. It specialises in skilled personnel, such as industrial technical workers, trained assistants and specialists, as well as commercial staff, qualified care workers, IT experts, airport staff, engineers and interim managers. The company has more than 9,000 employees throughout Germany, who work in firms ranging from small and medium-sized enterprises to big-name corporations.
DH Personalsachbearbeitung provides support as a partner to SME companies and major corporations across a wide range of different sectors in both provisional standard insolvency proceedings and provisional self-administration. The key tasks handled by DH Personalsachbearbeitung include ensuring that pre-financing of insolvency payments is handled quickly and smoothly, preparing employee documentation, and assisting employees during provisional proceedings.
Insolvency Administration – CMS Germany
Dr Christian Holzmann, Insolvency Administrator and Partner, Duesseldorf
Dr Dominic Poster, Senior Associate, Duesseldorf, both Restructuring and Insolvency
Dr Boris Alles, Partner, Frankfurt/Main
Dr Theresa Kipp, Associate, Frankfurt/Main, both Labor law
Inhouse at Tempton
Lawyer Dr Sven Tischendorf
Oliver Hecker
Gisela Kopka
Daniel Kleine Stegemann
DH Personalsachbearbeitung GmbH
Jana Hoffmann
Julika Demmer
Press Contact
presse@cms-hs.com
