Austria-based A-Tec files for bankruptcy

A-Tec's boss, self-made multi-millionaire Mirko Kovats, will spend his own assets to save the struggling company, according to business newspaper WirtschaftsBlatt. The Vienna-based firm has around 12,000 employees in 16 countries and its insolvency is the third-biggest in the history of Austria, with reported liabilities of around €677 million. Mr Kovats has blamed its Australian unit of Austrian Energy & Environment (AE&E) for its current troubles. AE&E was recently terminated from CITIC Pacific's US$ 5.2 billion Sino Iron project in the Pilbara (a region in the north of Western Australia), according to the West Australian newspaper, despite construction of the power plant nearing completion and commissioning about to start. AE&E and CITIC relations have broken down to the extent that all their pre-agreed milestone payments and cost claims have gone to adjudication. The A-TEC machine tool division is comprised of companies such as: EMCO; Dörris Scharmann Technologie; Magdeburg Werkzeugmaschinen; INTOS; Famup and Mecof, and remains healthy having returned preliminary revenues of €262 million in 2009. The machine tool division has about 1,500 employees at its sites in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, France and Italy and its sales offices in Germany, the USA and Asia, The division's range of products extends from conventional lathes and milling machines to various types of CNC machining centres and fully automated CNC manufacturing cells The division operates in the UK market with HK Technologies representing Emco Maier, and DS Technology the supplier of both Mecof and DST products.