March 16 - The management board of Beluga Chartering GmbH ("Chartering") has announced that they were advised to petition for the opening of insolvency proceedings and have done so at the local court in Bremen, Germany, earlier today (March 16th).
The isolated insolvency filing of Chartering follows the discovery of material irregularities relating to revenues and liquidity, details of which have been notified to the relevant authorities, Klaus Becker, interim spokesman, confirmed to HLPFI today.
Chartering's parent company, Beluga Group GmbH ("Beluga"), and certain other key subsidiary companies continue to operate outside insolvency.
In a statement, the company said; "Beluga is pleased to confirm that its key stakeholders are involved in ongoing and constructive dialogue designed to achieve a common solution for Beluga.
"Further announcements will be made in due course as appropriate."
An investigation into suspended Beluga Shipping management, including founder Neils Stolberg, on suspicion of fraud and incorrect accounting was launched earlier this month by the Bremen prosecutor's office.
Beluga has announced a "comprehensive financial restructuring" working closely with its largest secured lender US-based private equity firm Oaktree Capital Management, which invested approximately EUR100 million in the company last year.
As of lunchtime today, there was no comment from Oaktree on the insolvency.
