No more appeals against Suhrkamp restructure

German literary powerhouse Suhrkamp and its publisher Ulla Unseld-Berkéwic who also owns 61% of the company, have been handed an early Christmas gift by the three judges of the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe. By dismissing an injunction by minority owner Hans Barlach they have allowed a restructuring plan for Suhrkamp to finally go ahead. Barlach and Unseld-Berkéwicz have been engaged in a power struggle over control of one of Germany's leading literary publisher since 2008.

Unseld-Berkéwicz can now set in motion much needed reforms, which were initiated in early 2013 when the company filed for insolvency protection under a recently amended German law that encourages a company to introduce reforms to stay afloat as a going concern. The restructuring will result in the company’s flotation sometime in 2015. A date has not been set yet. The insolvency proceedings had been ferociously contested by Barlach ever since because they will leave him with hardly any powers to influence the day-to-day running of the publisher. The ruling does not allow further appeals.

The court reasoned that by further delaying procedures Suhrkamp’s business operation would have been irrevocably hit. Thus they also acknowledged the uniqueness of the case because it was the dispute between the shareholders that forced the publisher into insolvency in the first place and not financial shortcomings of its publishing business. This, though, has suffered badly in the process with sales down 15.5% to €30.1m in 2013. The power struggle has also lead to the defection of major authors.