Zöchling and Neumeister should push ahead with the renovation and restart

In the course of the restructuring attempts in the largely insolvent company network of Stefan Pierer There is an extraordinary general meeting at the parent company surrounding KTM Pierer Mobility planned. Chairman of the supervisory board Josef Blazicek will resign from his mandate, Pierer Mobility announced on Thursday evening. The new head of the supervisory board will be Remus co-owner and Remus CEO Stephan Zöchling. Zöchling is already on the board of directors Pierer Industrie AG.

The election of the supervisory board is to take place at the extraordinary general meeting planned for the end of January. “In addition, new conditional capital is to be created at this general meeting to enable the board to issue financial instruments flexibly,” the statement said.

Zöchling is not only considered a tough negotiator and cool calculator, but also as a shrewd manager and reorganizer. He is also a confidant of KTM boss Stefan Pierer as well as the new Pierer Moblity and KTM CO boss Gottfried Neumeister.

Long management experience

Zöchling used to be a manager in the industrialist Oleg Deripaska’s corporate empire in Russia and has good connections to Moscow, where he also lived temporarily. Among other things, he managed two construction companies. Zöchling also has excellent contacts with Siegfried Wolf, whose team he was part of during his Magna days. Wolf is also Zöchling’s best man.

Zöchling was the investor who took over the remaining assets of the European subsidiary of the Russian Sberbank. He took over the majority stake in Remus together with Hans Peter Haselsteiner in 2016 and later increased it to 100 percent.

The board of Pierer Industrie AG was “reinforced” as of January 1st, including Zöchling, Pierer Mobility also announced. Gottfried Neumeister, who already works for the group, will also be joining this committee. Friedrich Roithner is resigning from his mandate at Pierer Industrie AG and moving to the management of Pierer Unternehmensgesellschaft mbH.

Job cuts

It had recently become viral that the insolvent motorcycle manufacturer KTM was likely to extend a production stop planned until the end of February by one month. In the course of the restructuring measures taken so far, hundreds of jobs have already been cut. The debts in the group are in the billions.

The restructuring plan

Pierer Industrie AG has been in European restructuring proceedings since November 25, 2024. A few days ago it submitted a restructuring plan to the Wels regional court. This stipulates that creditors receive 100 percent quota in two installments: 68.89 percent by December 31, 2026 and 31.31 percent by December 31, 2027.

“Interest payments due on the claims of the affected creditors are to be made to the contractually agreed extent and at the contractually agreed due dates on the respective outstanding claims. The interest due for the period from the last due date until the payment of the last capital installment will be paid together with the payment of the last capital installment paid,” says the Ministry of Justice’s edict file.

On February 20, 2025, the creditors will vote on the restructuring plan during a meeting at the Wels Regional Court. The restructuring officer will first discuss his opinion.