DyStar files for Bankruptcy

Following earlier rumours, it has now been confirmed that DyStar Textilfarben GmbH, DyStar Textilfarben GmbH & Co Germany and DyStar Holdings have all filed an insolvency petition with the local court in Frankfurt for the company's operations in Germany.

The insolvency petition includes the company's sites in Frankfurt, Leverkusen, Brunsbuttel, Geretsried and Ludwigshafen which in total employ around 1,300 people.

It has been stated that the insolvency filing was necessary after DyStar exhausted alternative solutions to their liquidity problems.

DyStar hold a wealth of dyes technology and it will be interesting to see where it all ends up.

DyStar to file for bankruptcy

The rumour mill has picked up that DyStar will file for bankruptcy. The company's market focus is on textiles and leather and not the paper industry.

DyStar is a conglomeration of textile dyes businesses - founded in 1995 as an amalgamation of the Bayer, Hoechst and Mitsubishi textile dye businesses, they later acquired the BASF, Mitsui, Zeneca, Colour Solutions and Yorkshire Americas businesses. In 2004 DyStar was acquired by the private equity company, Platinum Equity and is recognised as a leader in the textile and leather markets

More news is expected, but the complex collection of companies in a rapidly changing market may have proved too difficult for the private equity company in the 'credit crunch' era. There will surely be some interest from the surviving market players in purchasing some or all of DyStar; however, it is a good opportunity to take capacity out of the ailing European market.