Large Scale Central

One of Germany's BIG papers on the LGB background

Hi all,

Sorry no “Digest”, there wasn’t enough to compile one. However the following in the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” is worth a read.

Süddeutsche Zeitung 2007_05_18 said:
.

Weichenstörung

Die Hintergründe der Insolvenz des Modellbahnherstellers LGB werden zunehmend verworrener.

Von Uwe Ritzer

Nürnberg - “Always look on the bright side of life” dudelt es unablässig aus dem Telefonhörer, doch mit dem Ohrenwurm aus dem Monthy-Python-Film tut man sich schwer wenn man eigentlich Steffen Goede sprechen möchte. Der Insolvenzverwalter der Nürnberger Modelleisnbahnfirma Lehmann Groß-Bahnen lässt Fragesteller abwimmeln. Dabei gäbe es vieles zu hinterfragen, denn die Umstände, unter denen LGB, der Kult-Hersteller vonwetterfesten großspurigen Gartenmodelleisenbahnen im Maßstab 1:22,5, seit Monaten ums Ãœberleben kämpft, werden immer verworrener.

Immerhin teilte Goede in einer knappen E-Mail mit, kommende Woche würden Gläubigerausschuss und Banken Entscheidungen über die Zukunft von LGB treffen. Das ist auch dringend nötig, denn die Zeit rennt davon. Sollte die vor Wochen gestoppte Produktion nicht schnell wieder aufgenommen werden, reicht es wohl nicht mehr für das überlebenswichtige Weihnachtsgeschäft. “Es muss sich auch deshalb sehr schnell etwas tun, weil die Kunden total verunsichert sind” sagt Friedhelm Weidelich, langjähriger Chefredakteur des Fachmagazins Der Gartenbahn Profi.

Knappe 130 Arbeitsplätze stehen auf dem Spiel. Die Arbeiter bekommen schon kein Insolvenzgeld mehr, in Kürze droht den Angestellten dasselbe Schicksal. Auf dem Tisch von Gläubigern und Banken liegen mehrere Angebote, darunter eines der früheren LGB-Tochter LGB of America (LGBoA). Sie will ihre einstige Muttergesellschaft für angeblich 7,5 Millionen Euro kaufen. Die reine Vertriebsgesellschaft LGBoA gehört der Firma G45 des US-Geschäftsmannes David Buffington. In der Branche halten sich Gerüchte, er sei nur ein Strohmann. Tatsächlich stünde hinter der Firma die ehemalige LGB-Eignerfamilie Richter, die über diesen Umweg einen von den alten LGB-Schulden unbelasteten Neustart plane. Buffington bestreitet dies. Die Richters seien nur Berater, heisst es.

Der ebenso schnelle wie merkwürdige Verkauf von LGBoA an G45 war 2006 der Anfang vom Ende von LGB. Die in den Deal nicht eingeweihten Banken fühlten sich überrumpelt und kündigten die Kreditlinien für LGB, wo die Geschäfte seit Jahren drastisch eingebrochen waren und die Schulden den Umsatz überstiegen. Unklar ist nach wie vor, ob 2006 auch die weltweiten Marken- und Vertriebsrechte von LGB mitverkauft wurden. Dann wäre LGB so oder so künftig abhängig von der einstigen US-Tochter.

Insolvenzverwalter Goede schweigt sich dazu ebenso aus, wie zu Gerüchten, wonach G45-Chef Buffington bereits zu Zeiten der Eigentummerfamilie Richter auf LGB-Honorarlisten gestanden habe. Auch über grosse Warenströme in die USA vor dem Verkauf von LGBoA wird viel spekuliert. Goede liess lediglich verlauten, die alte Eigentümerfamilie habe “keinerlei Einflussmöglichkeiten” auf die bevorstehenden Entscheidungen.

Die LGB-Mitarbeiter hatten zuletztauf einen Übernahme durch den Ex-Fluglinienbetreiber Hans Rudolf Wöhrl gehofft. Dessen Angebot, das einen Erhalt der 130 Arbeitsplätze einschloss, wurde jedoch abgelehnt. Zuvor hatte sich Insolvenzverwalter Goede bereits peinlich vergriffen, als er den Rügener Kleinbahnbetreiber Hermann Schöntag als LGB-Retter präsentierte. Dabei hatte der gar nicht das nötige Kapital. Von Anfang an im Bieterrennen ist Märklin samt seinem Eigentümer Kingsbridge, einem britischen Finanzinvestor. Angeblich wollen sie jedoch das Nürnberger Werk schliessen. Auch Märklin-Konkurrent Piko hat Übernahmeinteresse angemeldet. Und sich dann beklagt, Insolvenzverwalter Goede habe dieses ignoriert.


My translation

HJ translates said:
.

Defective turnout

The backgrounds of the insolvency of modelrailway producer LGB are getting increasingly more tangled

by Uwe Ritzer

Nürnberg - “Always look on the bright side of life” the earworm from the Monthy-Python movie keeps pouring forth from the receiver, but that doesn’t help much if one would actually like to talk with Steffen Goede. The insolvency trustee for the Nürnberg modelrailway producer lets others get rid of inquirers. Although there is plenty to inquire about since the circumstances under which LGB, the cult-producer of weatherproof garden railway equipment in scale 1:22.5, battled for many months, are getting ever more tangled.

At least Goede reported in a curt email, that the creditor’s assembly and the banks would next week decide regarding LGB’s future. It is high time because time is running out. If the production, which was stopped weeks ago, isn’t resumed in a expedient fashion, it could be too late for the Christmas business which is essential for survival. “There also must be quick action because the customers are totally insecure.” said Friedhelm Weidelich, the former longtime editor of the magazine “Der Gartenbahn Profi”.

Just under 130 jobs hang in the balance. The hourly employees have lost their insolvency bridging wages and the same will happen shortly to the salaried employees. The creditor’s assembly and the banks have several offers on the table, amongst them one from the ex LGB-subsidiary LGB of America (LGBoA). LGBoA intends to buy its former owner company for supposedly 7.5 million Euro. The distributing company LGBoA is owned by US-businessman David Buffington’s G45 enterprise. There are persistent rumours in the industry that he is simply a stooge. In reality the powers behind G45 are said to be the former LGB-owner family Richter, who with this detour are supposedly planning a new start without the baggage of the old LGB debts. Buffington controverted that. The Richters are simply consultants, he says.

The sale of LGBoA to G45, which was as quick as it was peculiar, in 2006 was the beginning of the end for LGB. The deal took the uninitiated banks by surprise, they recalled LGB’s credits. LGB that had drastically lost business in the past years and where the debts exceeded the yearly turnover. It is still nebulous if, in 2006, the worldwide marketing and distribution rights were also sold by LGB. In that case LGB would, in future, in any case be dependent on the former US-subsidiary.

Insolvency trustee Goede remains silent on that count, in the same manner as he does concerning rumours the G45 boss Buffington had been on the payroll when the Richters ran LGB. There is also a lot of speculation regarding large shipments to the USA just prior to the LGBoA sale. Goede’s only announcement was that the former owner family would have “no possibilties to influence” the forthcoming decisions.

The LGB employees were last pinning their hopes on a takeover by former airline operator Hans Rudolf Wöhrl. His offer, which included the preservation of 130 jobs, was rejected. Prior to that insolvency trustee Goede made an embarrassing mistake by presenting the Rügen Railway operator Hermann Schöntag as LGB’s “saviour”. Although he lacked the required capital.

Märklin, with its owner British financial investor Kingsbridge, has been in the bidding contest right from the start. But supposedly they plan on closing the Nürnberg factory. Märklin’s competitor Piko has also expressed interests in a takeover. And complained that Goede ignored the interest.


Hmmmm, I guess a newspaper based in Munich instead of Nürnberg could have a different perspective. :wink: :slight_smile: :wink:

Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
"Es muss sich auch deshalb sehr schnell etwas tun, weil die Kunden total verunsichert sind" sagt Friedhelm Weidelich, langjähriger Chefredakteur des Fachmagazins [i]Der Gartenbahn Profi[/i].
Hi HJ,

This paper has a “pay-as-you-read” site, Did you buy the article or did GBprofi buy it for you? I had heard that Friedhelm was no longer the Chief Editor, has he been rehired? Amazing how the same names keep appearing?

Jack

Jack Barton said:
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
"Es muss sich auch deshalb sehr schnell etwas tun, weil die Kunden total verunsichert sind" sagt Friedhelm Weidelich, langjähriger Chefredakteur des Fachmagazins [i]Der Gartenbahn Profi[/i].
Hi HJ,

This paper has a “pay-as-you-read” site, Did you buy the article or did GBprofi buy it for you? I had heard that Friedhelm was no longer the Chief Editor, has he been rehired? Amazing how the same names keep appearing?

Jack


Jack,

Did I ever asked you who provides your information? No!

I can tell you this: No, the GARTENBAHNprofi had nothing at all to do with me getting a copy of the article. There are quite a few sources that I can draw on and as we have seen so far, they are a lot more reliable than what we have seen from others.

Oh yes, Hans-Joachim Gilbert, he is now the GBp editor, has updated his News page. :wink: I just read it, had to check how you would arrive at your assumption/question/ query. I was rather super busy the last two days,

My sources: Sometimes I just say, could you FAX that to me, please? other times the stuff just arrives out of the blue. FAX, email, whatever! :wink: :slight_smile:
BTW remember how I signed up with Goldman Sachs, just so I could send an email? Same goes for reading newspapers.

On that “amazing how”; I fully agree!

Absolutely amazing how the Richters are being tied in with Buffington and just how persistent these rumours are. Same names keep popping up again and again. In print, no less! Makes one wonder what all is making the rounds behind the scenes, doesn’t it?? :wink: :slight_smile: :wink:

PS You should read all the other stuff in the financial section of that paper! :lol:

Does it matter?
Are you saying it isn’t an actual news article?
Very odd.
Kind of a back-door discrediting?

Once again, since most newsapers are pay-as-you-read (unless someone leaves one sitting on the table at Starbucks), what difference does it make in the grand scheme of things other than to cause folks to question the validity?

Maybe next week, huh?

Curmudgeon said:
Does it matter? Are you saying it isn't an actual news article? Very odd. Kind of a back-door discrediting?

Once again, since most newsapers are pay-as-you-read (unless someone leaves one sitting on the table at Starbucks), what difference does it make in the grand scheme of things other than to cause folks to question the validity?

Maybe next week, huh?


Dave,

It could be the fact that one would have to either buy an actual copy of the paper - that would be so old-fashioned! - or sign up and pay to read.

Next will be that “Strohmann” shouldn’t be translated as “Stooge” or some other such point that will have no merit. Of course if one would just translate “Strohmann” literally it would be “strawman”. Exactly the kind of material some people seem to be grasping for.

BTW yes it will be next week, that’s what Goede mentioned in that email, but since the banks are the ones in charge …
There hasn’t been a peep out of Nürnberg City Hall if the banks’ contemplations/evaluations/considerations or any other …ations are speedy enough in their estimations. :wink: :slight_smile: :wink:

HJ,

Thanks for doing the translations. If nothing else I can have an idea of what’s going on without having to decipher the translation.

Jack Barton said:
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
"Es muss sich auch deshalb sehr schnell etwas tun, weil die Kunden total verunsichert sind" sagt Friedhelm Weidelich, langjähriger Chefredakteur des Fachmagazins [i]Der Gartenbahn Profi[/i].
Hi HJ,

This paper has a “pay-as-you-read” site, Did you buy the article or did GBprofi buy it for you? I had heard that Friedhelm was no longer the Chief Editor, has he been rehired? Amazing how the same names keep appearing?

Jack


Friedhelm Weidelich is not an “easy” person to get along with,
he’s had trouble in every job he ever had.
And he WAS co-publisher of GB-P.
He is the one promoting Spur 1 /Gauge 1 1.32 on 45 mm and the one who
tries to declare LGB as Gauge 1,5 (An invention by him - but no one else
follows this new description).

Once again, HJ, thanks for your translations, we single language people certainly appreciate your efforts.

Danny Sheehan said:
Once again, HJ, thanks for your translations, we single language people certainly appreciate your efforts.

Based on the comments in the e-mail below, I’m not sure whom is doing the translating and whom is supplying the original comments on the situation.

[deleted by request]

The Lone Railroader said:
Jack Barton said:
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
"Es muss sich auch deshalb sehr schnell etwas tun, weil die Kunden total verunsichert sind" sagt Friedhelm Weidelich, langjähriger Chefredakteur des Fachmagazins [i]Der Gartenbahn Profi[/i].
Hi HJ,

This paper has a “pay-as-you-read” site, Did you buy the article or did GBprofi buy it for you? I had heard that Friedhelm was no longer the Chief Editor, has he been rehired? Amazing how the same names keep appearing?

Jack


Friedhelm Weidelich is not an “easy” person to get along with,
he’s had trouble in every job he ever had.
And he WAS co-publisher of GB-P.
He is the one promoting Spur 1 /Gauge 1 1.32 on 45 mm and the one who
tries to declare LGB as Gauge 1,5 (An invention by him - but no one else
follows this new description).

The Lone Railroader said:
Based on the comments in the e-mail below, I’m not sure whom is doing the translating and whom is supplying the original comments on the situation.

[deleted by request]
Marvin,

Did you get permission from Friedhelm to publish the email he addressed to you? Or is it the usual MO?

On who does the translating and where the information originates; I believe my record stands very nicely for itself. :smiley: :smiley: Team Red (nice term coined by Tim Brien) may get really flustered about that, but that doesn’t change the facts. :smiley: :wink: :smiley:

PS Do you remember what you sent on Date: Fri, 08 Sep 2006 15:47:07 -0500 ??? Are you familiar with the Chinese proverb: “The palest ink is better than the best memory”? :wink: :slight_smile:

Jack Hewitt and Danny Sheehan,

You’re most welcome.

Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
Marvin,

Did you get permission from Friedhelm to publish the email he addressed to you? Or is it the usual MO?

On who does the translating and where the information originates; I believe my record stands very nicely for itself. :smiley: :smiley: Team Red (nice term coined by Tim Brien) may get really flustered about that, but that doesn’t change the facts. :smiley: :wink: :smiley:

PS Do you remember what you sent on Date: Fri, 08 Sep 2006 15:47:07 -0500 ??? Are you familiar with the Chinese proverb: “The palest ink is better than the best memory”? :wink: :slight_smile:


Hit a nerve, did I? Maybe you are taking credit for someone else’s thought and efforts?

Do you get permission to post the Deutsche Zeitung stories?

I have no idea what I sent on 08 Sep 2006, but I can easily check my archived record of comments & posts from all sides and will know.

I am a student of “Sun Tzu”.

The Lone Railroader said:
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
Marvin,

Did you get permission from Friedhelm to publish the email he addressed to you? Or is it the usual MO?

On who does the translating and where the information originates; I believe my record stands very nicely for itself. :smiley: :smiley: Team Red (nice term coined by Tim Brien) may get really flustered about that, but that doesn’t change the facts. :smiley: :wink: :smiley:

PS Do you remember what you sent on Date: Fri, 08 Sep 2006 15:47:07 -0500 ??? Are you familiar with the Chinese proverb: “The palest ink is better than the best memory”? :wink: :slight_smile:


Hit a nerve, did I? Maybe you are taking credit for someone else’s thought and efforts?

Do you get permission to post the Deutsche Zeitung stories?

I have no idea what I sent on 08 Sep 2006, but I can easily check my archived record of comments & posts from all sides and will know.

I am a student of “Sun Tzu”.


Marvin,

No, you didn’t hit a nerve. :slight_smile: I just don’t do that kind of stuff, always quote the source if it isn’t my work. I have always disliked plagiarists, long before it became fashionable. And I can afford the dislike, never a shortage of my own ideas.

As for permission to quote and translate the German newspaper … check with the newpapers. :smiley: :wink: :slight_smile: You need a “real” surprise once in a while. :lol:

“Sun Tzu” hmmm. Besides following the LGB Saga, I also keep tabs on the “Lord Black Saga”, this past week the Lord proclaimed that he was at war with the US government. I wonder if he studied “Sun Tzu” as well, the profile would fit in more than one way. :smiley: :wink: :smiley:

No, not a nerve.
Just not thinking clearly, you don’t appear to be.
Plagarism is your strong suit.
Passing along personal e-mails, sometimes with full distribution list attached, seems to be your forte’.

Remember, whoever said it is actually immaterial.
Whoever POSTED it is the one who ends up getting blamed.

At least that’s according to the Red Brigade Handbook.

The German paper Süddeutsche Zeitung has a readership of 1.1 million people…that is a lot of opinions that can be forged by said article. I went to the papers website and there you have it…all in German of course.

REGARDLESS - it pretty much says a lot…and ya hafta wonder how it will impact the “negotiations”.

Stephan-
And, one has to wonder, aloud, even, when the published e-mail was listed here, what THAT will do to the negotiatiions, and who actually “leaked” said e-mail.

Most folks don’t put anything factual in print unless they find it in a print medium.

E-mails do not count as a print medium.

“…Always look on the bright side of life” the earworm from the Monthy-Python movie keeps pouring forth from the receiver…"

One should point out that in the referenced movie, while Brian, Mr Cheeky, Big Nose and Bid Noses Wife were all singing this cheerfull tune, they were all crucified and danging on the crosses, waiting to die…

Fitting reference? you tell me…:wink:

Vic,

That would mean someone in Goede’s office has a wicked sense of humour, but I doubt that he selected the tune. Probably didn’t catch the pun even if he got to listen to it.
I’ve never seen the movie, but I thought the tune was perfect for an insolvency specialist’s office. :lol: :wink: :lol: It’s a real double whammy, have to rent that movie! :smiley: :smiley:

Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
Vic,

That would mean someone in Goede’s office has a wicked sense of humour, but I doubt that he selected the tune. Probably didn’t catch the pun even if he got to listen to it.
I’ve never seen the movie, but I thought the tune was perfect for an insolvency specialist’s office. :lol: :wink: :lol: It’s a real double whammy, have to rent that movie! :smiley: :smiley:


Monty Pythons Life Of Brian, its a hoot!

I find it amazing that if a whole bunch of people read the same article, and two or more of them get the same opinion out of it, there must be plagiarism or a conspiracy.