Dutch Aircraft Maker Fokker Receives $153-Million Bailout
Beleaguered Dutch plane maker Fokker on Friday secured vital state aid to keep it in business for six weeks, and its administrators said they have not given up hope that the entire company can still be saved.
The Dutch government granted Fokker interim credit of $153 million and brought forward the planned purchase of four Fokker jets worth $66 million.
Rutger Schimmelpenninck, one of the three administrators now running the company after it was ditched by its German parent company, Daimler-Benz, on Monday, said he hopes that all existing businesses can be saved.
“We do not rule out that a solution is possible for the whole of Fokker,” he said at a news conference at the commuter aircraft maker’s headquarters in Amsterdam.
The cash boost from The Hague will help Fokker over a critical hurdle. It also brought good news for Fokker’s 7,900 employees.
Fokker won court protection from creditors Tuesday after majority shareholder Daimler-Benz withdrew financial backing for the loss-generating firm.
Economic Affairs Minister Hans Wijers said that the state’s injection of cash, plus the interim credit, will help tide Fokker over for five to six weeks, but he warned against over-optimism that Fokker will live through its cash crisis.
“There’s no reason whatsoever for great optimism. The company faces very great problems,” Wijers said.
“Partners still have to be found in a very short period of time in an industry with its large financial risks, continuing overcapacity and ruinous prices.”
Fokker Chairman Ben van Schaik also refused to be carried away by what could turn out to be a brief stay of execution.
“I don’t want to express pessimism or optimism. . . . The situation is still worrying, let’s not forget that. But there is hope,” he told reporters.
Van Schaik declined to answer questions on who might come to the firm’s rescue.
Canadian aerospace group Bombardier on Friday again denied that it has been in talks with Fokker, in response to continued speculation by industry analysts that it would be the best partner for Fokker.
