Grundig bankrupt as buyout talks fail

GERMAN electrical giant Grundig has gone into bankruptcy following the failure of buyout talks with a Turkish bidder.

Grundig filed for insolvency a week after Turkish group Beko announced it was abandoning plans to acquire the maker of television sets, tape players, razors, home appliances and car radios.

The company teetered on the verge of bankruptcy in 2000 after chalking up tens of million of euros in losses. Since then it has failed to return to profit.

For 2002, the group has pencilled in a loss of e75m (£51.3m). Last week, Beko, controlled by the family-owned Koc conglomerate, announced that it had decided not to buy Grundig 'following an in-depth examination and evaluation'.

Beko said at the beginning of March that it planned to take over Grundig with the aim of expanding its presence in Europe. Its decision to pull the plug marked the second time in just over a month that Grundig has lost a potential buyer.

The German group only started talks with Beko in March after long-running discussions with Taiwanbased Sampo foundered.

Grundig has just 100 employees in Britain, mostly in warehousing and distribution. A spokesman said it is hopeful that those jobs can be saved. He said the stockpile of appliances in Britain means that the terms of service guarantees can be met for 'months to come'.