FRANKFURT – One of Europe’s best-known adult brands will soon receive a much-needed shot in the arm, in the form of an investment from an asset management firm which has a “strong focus on debt obligations.”
Beate Uhse, which filed for bankruptcy restructuring late last year, reportedly will receive assistance from Robus Capital, an asset management group which serves companies throughout Europe, but with a particular emphasis on German-speaking markets.
“If all goes to plan, then Robus Capital will take over the recoverable elements of the company at the beginning of May,” said Georg Bernsau, the bankruptcy attorney for Beate Uhse.
According to Bernsau, the surviving divisions of Beate Uhse will be combined into a subsidiary called “be you GmbH,” a move which he said will save “around 150” jobs at the beleaguered company. The restructuring reportedly will leave some of the company’s departments, including its marketing department, in Germany, as the company seeks to increase its online sales through third-party platforms like Amazon and other online retailers.
Founded by former stunt pilot Beate Uhse-Rotermund in 1946, the company got its start distributing family-planning pamphlets under the title Schrift X. Later, Beate Uhse opened what is generally considered the world’s first adult shop, opening its doors in Flensburg, West Germany, in 1962.
Over the ensuing decades, Beate Uhse grew into an enormous force within the European adult market, at its peak employing over 1500 people and generating over 270 million euros in annual revenue. Since 2007, the company’s revenues have been in decline, a fact typically attributed to the rise in popularity of free online porn. By 2015, the company’s revenues had declined to 128 million euros, and the number of employees fell to 600. Beate Uhse was first listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 1999, two years before its founder’s death in 2001.
Even as it filed for bankruptcy in December, board members were optimistic about the company’s ability to bounce back and survive.
“The Management Board of Beate Uhse AG has decided to take this step because in the advanced negotiations with a group of investors on a financing transaction recently, no agreement could be reached,” Beate Uhse board member Michael Specht said in a statement at the time, adding that the company’s goal is “to quickly and sustainably implement operational and financial restructuring.”
“We have taken a course of action with which we’re very confident of being able to restructure the group of companies as a whole,” Specht added.
