The end for LST?

During court proceedings at the Wellheim District Court finalised on 30 September 2013, German attachment supplier LST was ordered into insolvency. Micheal Schwienbacher, founder and managing partner of LST Group, blamed the long winter of 2012 and subsequent flooding across Europe. This caused a slump in construction activities across the region, leading to a corresponding slump in equipment rental rates, which in turn has resulted in cash flow problems for the Group.

An attempt to reduce the companies involved in the financing of the Group from 35 down to just a maximum of five failed over the course of 2013, as did an attempt to arrange bridging finance. Herr Schweinbacher has been reported as saying: “The aim currently is to keep the Group going, to make a smooth transition of all company guarantees to new shareholders and thus to minimise the resulting damage to all creditors and to also safeguard jobs.” No information is currently available concerning the impact of the insolvency on the latter.

LST Group consists of six companies: LST Gmbh, LST Greif- und Ladetechnik, LST Maschinenbau Sachsen GmbH, LST Mietpark GmbH, LST Service GmbH and Technosteel GmbH