Around a year after the opening of insolvency proceedings in respect of the assets of Aquinos Bedding Germany GmbH – in which Frauke Heier, a solicitor from the law firm Niering Stock Tömp Rechtsanwälte in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, was appointed as insolvency administrator – Bochum-Gelsenkirchen Trams plc (BOGESTRA) is taking over the city-wide well-known premises of Aquinos Bedding Germany GmbH at Schlaraffiastraße 1–10 in Bochum-Wattenscheid, which previously housed the company’s head office, a factory producing Schlaraffia-brand mattresses and a logistics centre for the Aquinos Group’s European intercompany operations.
The site was offered for sale as part of a structured, international sales process managed by the consultancy firms Leo-Impact Consulting and AENGEVELT Immobilien. Demand for the site was high. The reason: “It is very rare for such a large, premium site for commercial and logistics use, situated directly on the A40, to come onto the market,” explains insolvency administrator Frauke Heier. In addition to its proximity to the motorway, the site boasts excellent public transport links for future employees – Wattenscheid railway station is just a ten-minute walk away, and there is a bus stop right on the doorstep.
To ensure the sale proceeded swiftly and in full compliance with the law, a team of staff from Aquinos Bedding Germany GmbH, working alongside the insolvency administrator, carried out exceptionally thorough preparatory work. Several hundred documents were compiled in a digital data room. In addition to land registers, historical mining records, information on forestry rights for adjacent areas and technical details such as power line capacities were also stored there.
In addition, lawyer Frauke Heier commissioned up-to-date surveying reports, market value assessments and comprehensive soil, environmental and contaminant reports for the buildings. Thanks to close coordination with the authorities, the bidders were provided with a virtually complete seller’s due diligence report. The insolvency administrator was supported by the law firm ADVANT Beiten in executing the property transaction.
BOGESTRA ultimately succeeded in securing the bid against offers from several leading international investors. Since 1896, it has stood for reliable transport in the central Ruhr region and has accompanied generations of people on their journeys through life. Every day, around 2,400 employees ensure that hundreds of thousands of passengers in the central Ruhr region reach their destinations. BOGESTRA’s buses and trams serve stops in the cities of Bochum, Gelsenkirchen and Herne, as well as in the Ennepe-Ruhr district and neighbouring towns. As the leading transport provider in the central Ruhr region, BOGESTRA focuses on innovation and alternative propulsion systems, and regularly invests in its vehicle fleet, facilities and track infrastructure. BOGESTRA is now planning a new e-bus depot on the site it has acquired in Bochum-Wattenscheid, which is due to come into operation at the start of the next decade.
