Alfred Kuhse GmbH and Woodward Power Solutions GmbH join forces to form the market leader Kuhse Power Solutions GmbH
Alfred Kuhse GmbH (“Kuhse”) was founded in 1928 and has since specialized in becoming one of the leading providers of switchgear for decentralized energy generation. Kuhse sells its products in more than 75 countries worldwide. In October 2019, the Lüneburg district court filed for bankruptcy. The insolvency administrator was Dr. Tjark Thies from the law firm Reimer Rechtsanwälte.
During the insolvency proceedings, operations continued in full and larger projects in Germany and abroad were completed without restrictions and delivered to customers. “The main cornerstones of the reorganization were and are the extraordinary loyalty and motivation of the employees, who made it possible to process customer orders smoothly even during bankruptcy,” says insolvency administrator Dr. Thies.
Right at the beginning of the insolvency proceedings, Centuros was commissioned by the insolvency administration to lead on operations. At the same time, a cooperation agreement was concluded between Alfred Kuhse and the listed US company Woodward Inc. with the aim of establishing a joint venture. Centuros was hired by Woodward and the bankruptcy administration to search for investors for this joint venture. The complex and novel transaction structure of the group carve-out / sale from insolvency and the COVID-19 pandemic made it particularly difficult to address international investors.
Hamburg entrepreneur Michael Krieger enters the joint venture Kuhse Power Solutions GmbH as an investor. Mr. Krieger will be actively involved in the company and promote the integration of the two companies. Most of the jobs at the Winsen site can be saved. In the future, the company will provide its highly specialized services in the field of planning, programming and manufacturing complex switchgear both from Winsen and the previous headquarters of Woodward Power Solutions GmbH in Kempen (North Rhine-Westphalia).
With the insolvency administrator Dr. Tjark Thies, accompanied by Dr. Arno Doebert and Centuros, Kuhse had an interdisciplinary team at its service. Centuros exclusively supported the insolvency administration in the commercial continuation of the business and the M&A process.
We are pleased that we were able to support Kuhse, Woodward and Reimer Rechtsanwälte in the continuation of the business and the search for investors and wish Mr. Krieger and Kuhse Power Solutions continuous success for the future.
Reimer Rechtsanwälte
Dr. Tjark Thies (Insolvenzverwalter)
Dr. Arno Doebert
Anja Göttsch
Woodward Inc.
Dr. Joachim Spalcke
Martin Fischer
Centuros
Carlos Rodrigues (Partner)
Daniel Schwartz (Manager)
Martin Alexander Schneider (Consultant)
Hogan Lovell (Legal Sellside / Woodward und Alfred Kuhse)
Andreas Thun
Volker Geyrhalter
Cornelius Naumann
SZA (Legal Buyside / Michael Krieger )
Marc-Philippe Hornung
Jan Friedrichson
