Emptera
Fictional example — this company, its data and its sources are made up.
Example

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Fictional register data
Company
Muster Robotics GmbH
Register
HRB 00000 (fiktiv)
Insolvency court
Amtsgericht Musterstadt
Case no.
1 IN 1/26 (fiktiv)
Protective measures
10.07.2026
Opened
01.09.2026
Report meeting
20.11.2026

Development, supply and maintenance of driverless transport systems for warehouses and production.

Researched with AI assistance (Google Gemini with Google Search) and checked automatically, as of 03.10.2026. 'Evidence' = what the linked source states, not independently verified; 'Assessment' = our view with its basis; 'Question' = open. Not a credit report, not legal or investment advice; no substitute for your own due diligence.

EvidenceAssessmentQuestion

Assessment

Assessment

Call if you want a commissioning and service team for driverless transport systems and can decide within weeks. For pure technology buyers, probably not: per the sources, the navigation software is licensed from a third party.

Fits
  • AssessmentIntralogistics integrators and makers of driverless systems building service capacity in Germany. Basis: registered business purpose, public contracts 2021–2024, maintenance contracts per the website.Fiktive Quelle: UnternehmenswebsiteFiktive Quelle: TED-Vergabebekanntmachung
Probably not for
  • AssessmentBuyers looking for their own vehicle technology or patents. Basis: we found no patents of the company; per the trade press, the navigation software comes from a licensor.Fiktive Quelle: Fachpresse-Artikel
The decisive questionQuestion

How many service technicians are still employed — and do the maintenance contracts sit with the GmbH itself?

What is in the company

  • EvidenceThe company develops, supplies and maintains driverless transport vehicles; per its website it services about 40 installations at customers in Germany.Fiktive Quelle: Unternehmenswebsite
  • EvidenceAn automotive supplier announced in 2025 that twelve of the company's vehicles had gone into operation at its plant.Fiktive Quelle: Pressemitteilung eines Kunden
  • EvidencePer the trade press, the vehicle control uses navigation software licensed from a third-party vendor.Fiktive Quelle: Fachpresse-Artikel
  • AssessmentThe most likely value is the service team and the maintenance contracts, as far as they sit with the GmbH. Basis: website and customer announcement.Fiktive Quelle: UnternehmenswebsiteFiktive Quelle: Pressemitteilung eines Kunden
  • QuestionCan the licence for the navigation software be transferred to a buyer?

Check list before the call

2 checked · 3 open

What we checked in public registers — and what only the administrator can answer.

Public contracts (TED)
EvidenceAward notices on TED name the company as contractor: Verkehrsbetriebe Musterstadt (2021, €0.85m); Klinikum Beispielhausen (2024, €0.32m). The notices do not say whether anything was delivered.Fiktive Quelle: TED-Vergabebekanntmachung
EU research projects (CORDIS)
EvidenceCORDIS lists the company in EU projects: ROBOLOG (2022–2025, participant, €412,000 EU contribution).Fiktive Quelle: CORDIS-Projekt
Patents
QuestionDoes the company hold patents or utility models? Search DPMA and EPO yourself before the call.
Maintenance contracts
QuestionWhich maintenance contracts are still running, for how long, and at what annual volume?
Staff
QuestionHow many service technicians and developers are still employed, and have they been given notice?

First call with the administrator

QuestionsQuestion
  1. Is service for existing customers still running, and who provides it?
  2. Will the navigation-software licensor consent to a transfer?
  3. Which vehicles and spare parts belong to the company, and which are leased?
  4. Is the business still operating? How many employment contracts remain, have they been given notice or released — and when do the periods end?
  5. Is an investor process running, when are offers due, and has a creditors' committee been appointed?
  6. Which customer, supply and licence contracts sit with the company itself, and which depend on group companies?
  7. Are any bidders related to the debtor (§ 138 InsO)? Then § 162 InsO applies — check with your advisers.
Documents to request
  1. Anonymised staff list with role, qualification and notice status
  2. Customer, supply, lease and licence contracts, including with group companies
  3. Asset and inventory list with ownership, leasing and security rights
  4. Revenue of the last 24 months by customer and product
  5. The asset realiser's valuation with going-concern and break-up values, if any
What to bring to be taken seriously
  1. Proof of funds: equity or bank confirmation
  2. Indicative offer without a financing condition: price, asset deal, which employment contracts, signing in 2–3 weeks
  3. As-is purchase without warranties, price paid at closing, no earn-out
  4. Named deal counsel (insolvency M&A) and a staffing plan: who is taken over

Price

  • EvidenceFrom opening, wages are estate liabilities (§ 55(1) no. 2 InsO); insolvency pay only covers the three months before (§ 165 SGB III). Notice is capped at three months to month-end (§ 113 InsO). A social plan requires a works council and normally more than 20 employees eligible to vote (§ 111 BetrVG); its total is capped at 2.5 monthly earnings of the dismissed employees and one third of the estate otherwise distributable (§ 123 InsO).§ 55 InsO§ 165 SGB III§ 113 InsO§ 111 BetrVG§ 123 InsO
  • EvidenceWhoever takes over a business out of insolvency takes over the employment contracts (§ 613a BGB). Labour courts read the rule narrowly in insolvency: the buyer is not liable for claims from before opening, such as accrued pension rights. If only part of the staff is to transfer, the administrator can give notice based on the buyer's plan (Federal Labour Court case law; § 128 InsO extends §§ 125–127 InsO to this case), or staff move into a transfer company (transfer short-time allowance, § 111 SGB III). Structure it with employment-law counsel.§ 613a BGBBAG, 26.01.2021 (PM 2/21)§ 128 InsO§ 111 SGB III
  • EvidenceThe administrator realises assets under security transfer; the estate keeps a flat 4% (assessment) and 5% (realisation) of the proceeds, the rest goes to the secured creditor up to the amount of its claim. Leased assets and those under simple retention of title are not part of the estate.§ 166 InsO§ 170 InsO§ 171 InsO§ 47 InsO
  • AssessmentUntil transferable rights are evidenced, an offer is anchored on break-up value and the costs you save the estate — not on past revenue or contract values.
  • AssessmentThe price is often the small part: carrying the team until your first own revenue usually costs more. Add both up.
  • QuestionWhich assets carry third-party or secured rights (leasing, retention of title, security transfer)?

Offer calculator

Your model with your assumptions — not a valuation of the company.

What creditors would get without you
What you save the estate
Your cash need

Enter your assumptions — the calculator only works from there.

Simplified: wages after opening are estate liabilities (§ 55(1) no. 2 InsO); notice at most three months to month-end (§ 113 InsO); a social plan needs a works council, its total is capped at 2.5 monthly earnings of the dismissed staff and one third of the estate otherwise distributable (§ 123 InsO). Ignores taxes, procedure costs and Insolvenzgeld effects. Check it with your advisers.

Paths after the purchase

Options for a buyer of this kind of estate — no statement about how the company was run.

01

A service platform for driverless systems

  • EvidencePer a market report, the installed base of driverless transport vehicles in German warehouses is growing by double digits.Fiktive Quelle: Marktbericht
  • AssessmentMakers without their own service network need partners for maintenance and commissioning. Basis: market report.Fiktive Quelle: Marktbericht
What must be true
  • Service technicians are still there or move to you
  • Existing customers renew their maintenance contracts
Check within a week
  1. Administrator: headcount and contract list
  2. Ask three existing customers whether they want service to continue
To first revenueAssessment

Immediately if maintenance contracts transfer; otherwise 2–4 months

From the estate
  • Service team (if still with the GmbH)
  • Maintenance contracts
  • Spare-parts stock
Add
  • Maker training
  • Diagnostic tools
Channels and partners
  • Existing customers
  • Makers without a service network
02

Spare parts for the vehicles in the field

  • EvidenceTED names public buyers that ordered the company's vehicles.Fiktive Quelle: TED-Vergabebekanntmachung
  • AssessmentOperators of these vehicles need spare parts even if the maker fails. Basis: award notices.Fiktive Quelle: TED-Vergabebekanntmachung
What must be true
  • Spare-parts stock and design documents are part of the estate
  • The vehicles are still in use
Check within a week
  1. Request the inventory list
  2. Ask two buyers from TED whether the vehicles still run
To first revenueAssessment

1–2 months if the stock is taken over

From the estate
  • Spare-parts stock
  • Design documents
Add
  • Storage and logistics
Channels and partners
  • Operators of the existing vehicles
Who could take over the team or assetsAssessment
  • Intralogistics integrators
  • Makers of driverless transport systems without a service network in Germany
  • Forklift dealers with their own workshop
Rather not
  • AssessmentBuying it as a technology platform. Basis: the navigation software is licensed, and we found no patents of the company.Fiktive Quelle: Fachpresse-Artikel

Market and comparable cases

Who is active in this field — neutral, sourced. No statement about intentions.

Makers of driverless transport systems

AssessmentWho builds comparable vehicles

  • Beispiel Fördertechnik AG — Driverless transport vehicles for warehousesFiktive Quelle: Marktbericht
  • Muster Logistiksysteme GmbH — Autonomous tugs for plant logisticsFiktive Quelle: Marktbericht
Integrators and service
  • Demo Intralogistik GmbH — Integration and maintenance of conveying systemsFiktive Quelle: Marktbericht

Sales out of insolvencies in this sector

Evidence

Examples — no statement about the value of this estate or about bidders for it.

2025Beispiel Automation GmbHFiktive Quelle: Meldung zu einem Verkauf aus der InsolvenzProcedure: Insolvency proceedings (regular)What transferred: Service business with 25 employeesPrice: no price in our sources
2024Muster Fördersysteme GmbHFiktive Quelle: Meldung zu einem Verkauf aus der InsolvenzProcedure: Self-administrationWhat transferred: Spare-parts business and brandPrice: no price in our sources

Team, financing, partners

Your deal team
  • AssessmentInsolvency M&A counsel experienced with business transfers (§ 613a BGB) and purchase agreements with administrators
  • AssessmentEmployment-law counsel for the staffing plan, dismissals under the buyer's plan and a transfer company
  • AssessmentAppraiser for equipment and inventory: condition, ownership, security rights
  • AssessmentTax advice on the asset-deal structure (depreciation, VAT on the price)
Financing the purchase
  • AssessmentEquity first: purchase agreements with administrators are signed within weeks and paid at closing; a financing condition weakens any offer.
  • EvidenceThe German states' guarantee banks guarantee bank loans to SMEs; Mittelständische Beteiligungsgesellschaften (MBG) provide equity stakes.Verband Deutscher Bürgschaftsbanken
Partners
  • AssessmentAn inspection expert for safety cases under ISO 3691-4 (driverless industrial trucks).
  • AssessmentThe navigation-software licensor, for training and diagnostics access.

European buyer view

  • AssessmentForeign makers of driverless systems without a service presence in Germany could gain a foothold through a team from this estate. Basis: market report.Fiktive Quelle: Marktbericht
Buying out of a German insolvency: what is typical at each stage
Preliminary proceedings (protective measures)
The sale process usually starts here; it rarely closes before opening.
Who sells: Preliminary administrator
Window: until opening, often 1–3 months (Insolvenzgeld)
Opened · regular proceedings with an administrator
Sales are often signed at or shortly after opening and closed in the months after. The administrator decides on staff and running contracts in the first weeks.
Who sells: Administrator (creditor-body consent, §§ 158, 160 InsO)
Window: teams: weeks (notice periods) · single assets: months
Self-administration / protective shield
Often yes: M&A process alongside the insolvency plan; asset deal possible.
Who sells: The debtor (management/CRO), supervised by the Sachwalter, with creditors' committee consent (§§ 275, 276 InsO)
Window: usually a plan; a sale is also possible
After the report meeting
The creditors' meeting has decided on continuation or closure (§ 157 InsO); after a closure, single assets (brand, domain, equipment) often remain buyable.
Who sells: Administrator
Window: a sale remains possible with consent (§ 160 InsO)
Rejected for lack of assets
No proceedings and no administrator; the company is dissolved (§ 60(1) no. 5 GmbHG).
Who sells: The dissolved company's liquidators
Window: —
Numbers
about 5%

of openings in our index are self-administration (Sachwalter per the notice), the rest regular proceedings with an administrator — 06–10/2026, 4.5–6% depending on the cut

Sources: Our index
about 8 weeks

from protective measures to opening (median in our index, over 800 cases 06–10/2026); the middle half of cases 6–10 weeks

Sources: Our index
32%

of large proceedings (over €10m revenue) recently ended in a rescue by sale or plan — 57% in 2020. We found no reliable statistic for smaller cases (as of 02.10.2026).

Sources: Falkensteg via VerkehrsRundschau ↗

Sources:§ 157 InsO§ 158 InsO§ 160 InsO§ 276 InsOCMS (Insolvenzgeld)Börsen-Zeitung (time pressure)

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