One year after the insolvency of FTI Touristik and Bigxtra, insolvency administrator Axel Bierbach takes stock and expresses satisfaction with the progress so far. The liquidation of what was once Europe's third-largest travel group is progressing rapidly. Numerous investments, trademark rights, and assets have been sold or are about to be sold in order to achieve the best possible proceeds for the more than 73.000 creditors who have filed claims totaling nearly €980 million.
As Bierbach announced, the FTI, Flugbörse, and drive.de brands, as well as the IT service provider Anixe Poland, the luxury tour operator Windrose, and the erf24 service center, were sold. The shares in TVG Touristik Vertriebsgesellschaft and the RT/Raiffeisen Touristik Group were also transferred, saving several hundred jobs. In the hotel sector, several of the original 54 hotels have already been sold or transferred, including in Italy, Turkey, and Greece. A solution is imminent for two FTI-owned hotels in Egypt.
The review of the filed claims is expected to take years, and given the company's financial situation, a low payout ratio for creditors is foreseeable, which Bierbach expects to be in the single-digit percentage range of the claim amount. Nevertheless, he expressed optimism about the winding-up process so far of the complex group, which once had 11.000 employees and over 100 companies. Around 800 former employees have already found new jobs, and approximately €6,3 million is to be paid out as differential wages to laid-off employees.
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