Linz Plant Saved

Chemical Company Finds Buyer After Massive Bankruptcy

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28.08.2026 16:00

Five of the company’s managers are taking over the Linz-based specialty chemicals firm Esim; the ink on the purchase agreement is already dry. The facility and 145 of the nearly 300 jobs will be retained.

In October 2025, the Linz-based chemical company Esim—which produces products such as pesticides—filed for bankruptcy. The mountain of debt was enormous, totaling 118 million euros, as reported by the “Krone.”

Since then, bankruptcy trustee Thomas Zeitler has been searching for a savior investor to preserve the facility and jobs. Now he has found one within the company’s own ranks: Five of the company’s managers (Franz Anders, Rudolf Huber, Agnieszka Kaleta, Sebastian Leitner, and Christoph Riedl), along with investor Elmar Zagler, are purchasing the core business and will continue to operate it under a newly founded company—Esim Speciality Chemicals GmbH.

Official handover in the fall
The purchase agreement was signed on Friday; no details regarding the purchase price have been disclosed. The official handover of the company to the new Esim is scheduled for the fall—by then, any outstanding regulatory issues are expected to have been resolved. “Together, we are taking on responsibility for an Austrian industrial site with excellent technical expertise, experienced employees, and long-standing customer relationships,” the new owners stated in a comment to the “Krone.”

Despite the rescue takeover, about half of the employees will lose their jobs due to the bankruptcy. This is because parts of the operation were shut down as part of the restructuring. Before the bankruptcy, Esim employed about 290 people; in the future, there will be only 145 at the site in the Linz Chemical Park.

This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.

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