Strnad's holding CE Industries is growing. Acquires loss-making MICo

Source: Forbes Date: 30.09.2022

The Třebíč engineering company MICo, which went bankrupt at the end of April, was acquired by the CE Industries holding. The group of entrepreneur Jaroslav Strnad consists of two dozen companies and operates on European markets in rail transport, raw materials recycling and energy.

On Tuesday, a meeting of creditors approved a reorganisation plan under which TURNIKA SPV will become the investor and owner of MICo, originally owned by the Denner family. The latter is wholly owned by Strnad's CE Industries group.

Petr Litvan, a graduate in nuclear power engineering from the Czech Technical University, became MICo's new CEO this September. He brings to the company experience from multinational companies Apple and HP.

According to Litvan, MICo is now debt-free and can start with a clean slate. "It needs to win new orders, produce and deliver them in a quality and timely manner, improve its liquidity, and take advantage of its growth potential with the current nuclear energy renaissance in the Czech Republic and Europe," he said.

The company has run into trouble in the past due to loss-making projects, failed investments, rising material prices and complications in fulfilling orders during the pandemic. For example, it lost money on CoroVent lung ventilators. At the beginning of the pandemic, the project was launched in cooperation with the CTU, but never reached mass production. In total, the company owed almost half a billion crowns.

At the end of February, the regional court in Brno decided to declare a moratorium on the MICo company's petition, during which the company was protected from creditors. After the moratorium was extended for two months, MICo filed for insolvency at the end of April. The court then ruled it bankrupt and granted reorganisation.

MICo manufactures heat exchangers, condensers and pressure vessels for nuclear and conventional power and other industries. The investor plans to merge MICo with Trebic-based engineering and supply company Chemcomex, which CE Industries also owns, said Adam Šotek, chairman of the board of CE Industries. "With this synergy, customers will get a comprehensive service from the production of the apparatus to the assembly itself, including complex engineering," he added.