Autonomous technology company Ibeo Automotive Systems has filed for insolvency. Despite talks with potential investors, self-administration proceedings have been granted by the Hamburg insolvency court.
By beginning the proceedings, Ibeo, a German developer of lidar sensors for autonomous driving applications, hopes to find an investor. The current management team is still in charge of company operations, with support for restructuring being provided by law firm Brinkmann & Partner.
The district court has appointed an insolvency expert from law firm Reimer Rechtsanwälte to act as the provisional administrator. A provisional creditors’ committee has also been appointed by the court to represent suppliers, employees, lenders and the employment agency.
Staff at Ibeo have been informed of the situation and the wages and salaries of 400 employees have been secured until the end of November. Company management has been in talks with potential investors since May 2022, a process that is still ongoing and is expected to be successful.
The company’s managing directors and the provisional custodian are examining restructuring options in addition to carrying out a targeted search for investors. Ibeo’s main goal is to preserve the company and as many jobs as possible.
“The reason for the insolvency application is that further growth financing could not be secured,” said Dr Ulrich Lages, Ibeo’s CEO. “Therefore, we will now specifically search for interested parties to support Ibeo’s further growth. We continue to believe in our market-leading technology, our highly qualified employees and our business mode, and see a large future market for Ibeo’s lidar sensors, including the world’s first ready-to-use 4D solid-state lidar sensor for automotive series production. We are optimistic that Ibeo’s future technologies have very good chances in the booming global autonomous driving market. This makes Ibeo attractive for an investor.”