The future of the “Lappen Nursery” is assured. Four and a half years after the opening of insolvency proceedings over the assets of the company owners, Dieter and Christian Lappen, lawyer and insolvency administrator Eberhard Stock (Niering Stock Tömp) has succeeded in finding an investor for one of the largest tree nurseries in Europe.
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Of the Entrepreneur Peter Overlack (OQEMA AG) signed a corresponding in Liedberg Investorenvereinbarung. The good news from Liedberg is with the employees of the Nursery rag was received with joy and relief in the Nettetal 45 km away.
The entrepreneur from the Lower Rhine region represents the interests of his family holding company. For four generations now, it has bundled the approaches to entrepreneurial investments of the Overlack families. The siblings Peter, Anne and Eva Overlack and their ten children are happy about the new commitment of their family holding company, which is not only an investment but also a calling for the whole family. Together they want the nursery they own new name BAUM & BONHEUR have given, have remained connected over the decades and the exciting, future-oriented company full of energy and develop with new ideas.
The current decision was preceded by a long-term reorganization and restructuring process by the liquidator and his office. The focus of efforts has always been to secure jobs and the continued existence of the family business. “I was convinced from the start that we would succeed together for this high-turnover and Europe-wide renowned companies to find a sustainable continuation solution ”, says lawyer Eberhard Stock.
As part of a 1½-year international M&A process, several potential investors from Germany, France and Russia expressed their interest in acquiring the over 125 year old family business. Numerous (prestige) projects at home and abroad had consolidated the excellent reputation of the established company over the decades. In addition, interested investors knew about the capital of the tree nursery, consisting of approx. 300,000 trees, solitary plants, multi-stem and topiary trees, which is waiting for affluent customers on around 450 hectares in Nettetal and another 180 hectares in the Netherlands.
The tree nursery sells its high-quality and in some cases exclusive plants and trees in Germany, Europe and even as far as Russia, Turkey and the Caucasus. In addition to private customers, architects, gardeners and landscapers as well as municipalities and park operators are among the customers of the Nettetal company.
In the course of the structured, international investor process, the Lower Rhine entrepreneur Peter Overlack was awarded the contract for the company consisting of the tree nursery and the plant trade.
The trained banker and business graduate is well known and networked in the region. After his father and grandfather, he has been running the family business OQEMA AG, one of the leading distribution companies for basic and specialty chemicals in Germany, in the third generation since 1988. He has been a member of the Board of Management since the company’s name was changed to Overlack AG in 2004.
“The investor agreement that has now been reached brings that longstanding bankruptcy proceedings to a good graduation“, Says Daniel Zumhasch. The specialist lawyer for insolvency law from the law firm Niering Stock Tömp has closely supervised and accompanied the closely linked proceedings in recent years. “I am particularly pleased with the result achieved with a view to the 140 employees and trainees. Your jobs are completely preserved. The creditors from both proceedings will also be able to look forward to a notable quota, ”said Zumhasch.
background
The signed investor agreement for the Lappen tree nursery goes back to an application for insolvency from autumn 2016, which Christian Lappen, as the owner of the plant trading company Lappen, filed with the Krefeld district court (AZ: 95 IN 53/16). The district court had granted the request. At the same time, under AZ 95 IN 52/16, insolvency proceedings were ordered over the assets of Dieter Friedrich Lappen, owner of the Lappen tree nurseries.
The market situation at the time was named as the main reason for the financial problems. This made it impossible for the company to achieve the prices “which correspond to the high-quality products of the tree nursery” (Eberhard Stock). The European Union’s sanctions against Russia and the associated decline in exports also played a role in the liquidity bottlenecks at the time.
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