Choren begins insolvency proceedings

Choren Industries, a biofuel technology company headquartered in Feiberg, Germany, has started bankruptcy proceedings, along with its two German subsidiaries Choren Fuel Freiberg and Choren Components.

Choren USA and Choren China have not yet been affected by the insolvency.

Choren was currently commissioning a demonstration plant in Feriberg, which was to produce second generation ethanol using the company's Carbo-V technology for synthetic gas. However, it ran into financing difficulties and this led to the insolvency.

National law firm Kübler is administrating the bankruptcy and the insolvency managers hope to keep group business operations running throughout initial proceedings.

Choren employs around 290 German staff, the wages and salaries of whom are secured for three months through insolvency employee insolvency payout funds.

The group will now be reformed, either through an insolvency plan or through the sale of an investor, with as many jobs as possible being saved.

'The Choren Group is one of the innovation leaders in a growth industry and has a competitive technology with genuine unique selling propositions,' says Bruno Kübler, temporary insolvency administrator for Choren Industries. 'That's why the insolvency proceedings that have now been launched offer good opportunities for the group's rescue and sustained development.'

The group's shareholders include Gasification Holding, the Acorma Corporation and a number of private investors. Both automobile groups Daimler AG and Volkswagen AG hold smaller shares in Choren.