Plastal insolvent

Plastal Group, a Swedish maker of car bumpers and other plastic mouldings for the European automobile industry, has filed for bankruptcy.

The Stockholm-headquartered company is one of the early casualties of the downturn in the car market, and, unable to raise external finance due to the credit crisis, has been forced to declare insolvency.

Plastal has been owned by Nordic Capital since early 2005, when it was sold by Gilde. Nordic injected money into the business in January to try to save the business, but the daily deterioration of market conditions meant that even this wasn’t enough.

Andrew Bennett, a director at Nordic Capital Fund V, said: “The automotive sector is in free fall at the moment. A bankruptcy is the very last resort and Nordic Capital Fund V fully recognises the distress this brings to the employees and customers of Plastal and the investors in Nordic Capital Fund V. However, Plastal is a good company with a significant presence in the European car industry, delivering to among others Ford, Volvo, Daimler, Fiat/Iveco, Volkswagen, Opel and Saab, and I am hopeful that a solution for the company’s business, employees and customers can be found despite this tragic situation.”