Babcock Borsig

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Babcock Borsig AG iI
legal form Corporation
founding 2001
resolution 2002
Reason for dissolution insolvency
Seat Oberhausen , Germany
Branch Mechanical and plant engineering

The Babcock Borsig AG was formed in 2001 by merging the Babcock-Borsig Aktiengesellschaft with BDAG Balcke-Dürr AG . It is now a corporate shell that was left over from the insolvency proceedings opened on September 1, 2002 .

Company history

The name change from Babcock Borsig Aktiengesellschaft to Babcock Borsig AG as a result of the merger was only the last act in the eventful history of this company. The company headquarters was in Oberhausen throughout .

The structure (1898–1945)

Deutsche Babcock & Wilcox Dampfkessel-Werke AG shares for more than 1,000 marks on September 30, 1916

The name Babcock comes from Babcock and Wilcox Ltd. founded in London in 1891 . , a subsidiary of the American company Babcock, Wilcox & Company , which founded the Deutsche Babcock & Wilcox Dampfkessel-Werke Aktien-Gesellschaft in 1898 with a share capital of 2 million Reichsmarks and held 51% of the shares. In 1909, shares in Deutsche Babcock & Wilcox Dampfkessel-Werke were traded on the Berlin stock exchange. In the following years and decades, Babcock distinguished himself through various innovations in the field of boiler construction , such as the world's first dust firing for a boiler and the construction of the first Benson boiler .

In 1939 the Deutsche Babcock & Wilcox steam boiler works were subordinated to the Reich Commissioner for the Treatment of Enemy Property due to the British majority stake . On March 25, 1945, the Babcock factory ceased operations, but were spared dismantling due to the British majority stake . Production was resumed that same year.

The expansion (1945–1975)

While this majority stake was able to contribute to a quick resumption of production in Oberhausen , it was rather a hindrance in the next decades: Despite the extensive elimination of the territorial boundaries agreed with the British company following the introduction of the European Economic Community , the British parent company retained the major world markets outside Europe in front. A remedy could only be achieved in 1975 when Iran bought a 25.02% stake in Deutsche Babcock AG from the British . This also paved the way for important markets outside of Europe. Due to the sustained growth, the group began to be structured as early as 1966 according to the business areas of mechanical engineering, process and environmental technology and energy-related plant engineering. In 1970 Babcock acquired the Borsig company .

Deutsche Babcock company logo since 1975

Further expansion (1975–1999)

A key project in this phase was the delivery of the reactor system to the Mülheim-Kärlich nuclear power plant, which subsequently only operated for a relatively short period of time . Restructuring was to be part of everyday life in the next few decades: In 1981, Deutsche Babcock AG became a pure holding company that had to manage several hundred subsidiaries in the meantime. In the early 1980s, Deutsche Babcock profited from the emerging environmental awareness; Stricter exhaust gas values ​​for industrial plants and increased efficiency ensured that order books were full. In 1987 Iran sold its shares, which were widely diversified. In 1988 Deutsche Babcock AG was a founding member of the Deutsche Aktienindex , introduced by Deutsche Börse , which tracks the price development of the 30 largest German companies.

On September 15, 1995, the Deutsche Babcock AG share was the first to “descend” from the DAX: Due to insufficient market capitalization, SAP AG displaced the share, which was subsequently listed in the MDax . In 1997 there was a comprehensive realignment of the group structure, seven areas were created according to the operational business areas into which the respective group companies were classified.

Development to "Babcock Borsig AG" and crisis (1999-2002)

Global bearer share over 500,000 common shares of Babcock Borsig AG from September 2000

In 1999, Deutsche Babcock took over Preussag's industrial and shipbuilding business , which made Preussag a major shareholder in the company now trading as Babcock Borsig Aktiengesellschaft . In 2001 this stock corporation and the wholly owned subsidiary BDAG Balcke-Dürr were merged to form Babcock-Borsig AG .

In mid-2002, Babcock Borsig announced acute financial difficulties. In addition to the then Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Wolfgang Clement , the then Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder also tried to save the group. On July 4, 2002, the group declared itself insolvent and filed for insolvency proceedings at the Duisburg District Court . At that time, around 20,000 people were working for the companies managed by Babcock-Borsig. On September 1, 2002, bankruptcy proceedings were opened against Babcock-Borsig's assets. This was the first major insolvency proceedings in Germany that were carried out in self-administration according to the then still quite new insolvency regulations . Hans-Gerd Jauch was the managing director of the main operating companies .

Large parts of the company could be sold and continue to operate, left the shell remained of the holding company Babcock Borsig AG iI , the self-administration has been completed since 1 March 2004 bankruptcy proceedings, so that the process since then by a liquidator is handled.

The energy technology division has been operating as Hitachi Power Europe since 2004, based in Duisburg .

In 2005, all shares in Babcock Borsig Service were taken over by Bilfinger in Mannheim. Due to the growth, Bilfinger established an independent business area in 2006 with Bilfinger Berger Power Services as the lead company.

Major holdings

In its long history, Deutsche Babcock and Babcock-Borsig have held significant shares in the following companies, among others:

literature

Individual evidence