Brokat Technologies, the once high flying German software vendor, has filed for insolvency after failing to renegotiate its debt burden with bondholders.
A developer of customised, component-based online banking software, Brokat has paid a heavy price for its rapid expansion overseas. As its share price faltered, the company was forced to retreat from the US by divesting acquisitions Blaze and Gemstone, and soon after sold its mobile business unit to eONE Global.
In a statement, the company says the insolvency filing at a local court in Stuttgart is necessary due to the failure of negotiations with bond holders to reduce crippling levels of indebtedness. It observes that "no realistic possibility exists to change the present situation".
The company says that business operations should proceed with Brokat eFinance Technologies, a spin-off subsidiary approved at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting on 12 November 2001. The slimmed down unit will employ approximately 150 staff with the goal of ensuring the continuity of customer relationships.
Brokat says it is continuing its search for an investor to infuse new capital into the remaining eFinance business unit.