Girindus to undertake major restructuring to secure its future

Girindus is planning to pull out of its production site in Halle-Kuensebeck, Germany, with the lost of around 90 jobs there at and Bensberg in the second half of the year.

The restructuring aims to bring to a halt a sustained period of losses and thereby secure the future of the Girindus Group. The measures will also allow for a refocusing of business activities, in particular increasing its concentration on on oligonucleotides. These activities will be expanded, as planned, in Cincinnati in the US; the chemical synthesis activities in Cincinnati will also be continued.

The withdrawal from the production site at Kuensebeck will either occur through the shutdown of the plant in the course of 2008 or through its short-term divestiture. In addition, administration and sales departments, located in Bensberg near Cologne, are to be significantly streamlined. Contractual obligations relating to outstanding customer orders will be fulfilled by Girindus.

At the end of last year Girindus had already announced an expected loss of approximately Euro 14m for 2007. Solvay, which acquired a majority share in the group in 2005, made a comparable financial contribution in the form of a partial waiver on outstanding loans.

Earlier, in the 6-month report published on at the end of August Girindus had also revealed cancellations and postponements of major client projects and the unsatisfactory utilisation of production capacities - developments that led to the decision for the measures now planned.

The works council at the Kuensebeck site has been informed the plans and meetings of the workforce have taken place on both sites. Immediate negotiations will begin between management and the works council with the aim of finding acceptable solutions in relation to the imminent staff reductions.