Schaeffler has again asked for state aid – a request apparently meeting a cool reception in Germany’s government.
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The firm has also said it will present a viable concept for the joint future of it and Continental.
Schaeffler has accumulated high debts after its acquisition of a 49.9% voting stake in Continental.
Reuters reported that Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday it was not the federal state’s role to help Schaeffler for now and said the state would not be caught paying for speculative business practices.
“The talks with the federal government and state representatives are about securing financial aid for an interim period of time,” Schaeffler said in a written statement.
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By GlobalDataSchaeffler said that it has become clear that aid could only be provided if it presents a sustainable concept.
“This is to ensure that the interim aid will not burden the taxpayers,” the company said.
“It is a matter of securing more than 220,000 jobs in both companies and tens of thousands of jobs at suppliers and allied businesses. And it is also a matter of ensuring that next-generation technologies remain in Germany in the long run and are further developed here,” Schaeffler said.
Schaeffler is rumoured to be seeking a capital injection of up to EUR4bn from Germany’s government.
“The Schaeffler Group emphatically rejects the allegation that it ‘gambled for high stakes’ when carrying out the takeover. Nobody could have foreseen the scope of the global financial crisis,” Schaeffler said in its statement.
