Varta’s consumer battery business spun off from insolvent parent
Varta Consumer Batteries will once again operate as an independent company after Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs approved its spin-off from the insolvent Varta AG group. The lenders take over the business, and all 990 jobs will be kept.
With the spin-off, the consumer business has been separated financially from the rest of the group, according to a press release from Varta Consumer Batteries. It is no longer part of the group’s joint financing, and it is no longer liable through guarantees or collateral for the former group’s debts. The company has also received fresh capital, which it puts at “several million euros”.
The transaction was made possible by the former group’s main lenders. They exercised their lien on the shares in the consumer business and will now take over the entire company. Production and deliveries continue without interruption, and existing contracts and supply agreements remain unchanged.
“The VARTA Consumer Batteries business unit is stable and well positioned with customers and business partners,” said Mark Munz, Managing Director of Varta Consumer Batteries.
The company employs around 990 people, of whom about 820 are in Germany and 170 abroad. Household batteries are produced in Dischingen, Baden-Württemberg, where the plant runs in three shifts, while administration and logistics are based in Ellwangen-Neunheim. No job cuts are planned. On the contrary, the company will need to build up its own functions for IT, finance, controlling, procurement and supplier relations, some of which were previously handled at group level. Recruitment is planned for the coming months, and some employees from other parts of the Varta group are expected to move over.
The company plans significant investments in Dischingen by the end of 2028, mainly in new equipment and more automation. It expects average annual sales growth of three to four percent up to 2029, driven primarily by European markets, but also by South America, Asia and Canada.
For the employees in the rest of the group, the outlook is less certain. Sabrina Zuther, chair of the works council in Dischingen, places the blame on Varta AG’s former management.
“The workforce must not have to pay the bill for the wrong decisions made by VARTA AG’s management in the past. With VARTA Consumer Batteries becoming independent again, we have succeeded at the last minute in securing a healthy and successful company as well as numerous jobs,” she said.
