NORATIS AG: Will creditors of the bond (ISIN: DE000A3H2TV6, WKN: A3H2TV) be disadvantaged? Specialist lawyers announce civil claims for damages and criminal investigation

NORATIS AG: Will creditors of the bond (ISIN: DE000A3H2TV6, WKN: A3H2TV) be disadvantaged?

Specialist lawyers announce civil claims for damages and criminal investigation

Is NORATIS AG (ISIN: DE000A2E4MK4, WKN: A2E4MK) threatening to seriously disadvantage bondholders? There are clear signs that this is the case. But resistance is already forming.

What happened? In September 2024, NORATIS AG extended the term of the bond (ISIN: DE000A3H2TV6, WKN: A3H2TV) by three years, until December 31, 2028. The prerequisite for this was the commitment by NORATIS's major shareholder from the Merz family (“Merz Spezial Dragees”) to increase NORATIS's capital. The extension of the bond and the simultaneous strengthening of equity capital were intended to stabilize the company's situation until the real estate markets calm down.

Completely unexpectedly, NORATIS AG nevertheless applied to the Frankfurt am Main Local Court on December 14, 2025, for the initiation of protective shield proceedings pursuant to Section 270d of the German Insolvency Code (InsO). On December 16, 2025, the insolvency court granted the application and appointed attorney Dr. Andreas Kleinschmidt as administrator. Very valid counterarguments – including a detailed protective letter previously submitted by the Schutzgemeinschaft der Kapitalanleger (SdK) – were ignored. According to the NORATIS Executive Board, the protective shield proceedings are intended to enable extensive reorganization and restructuring at NORATIS. According to all market experts, this will result in the bond creditors (ISIN: DE000A3H2TV6, WKN: A3H2TV) having to forego a large portion of their money.

Dr. Wolfgang Schirp from the law firm Schirp Schmidt-Morsbach Rechtsanwälte PartG mbB, who is closely monitoring the case, said: “Based on what we know so far, the bondholders are to be grossly disadvantaged. Apparently, the strengthening of equity capital that a company belonging to the Merz family had promised has not been carried out. Instead, the bondholders are to be made to bleed.”

Dr. Schirp continues: “We find it very negative that the major shareholder from the Merz family circle is attempting to shift his obligations to an alleged new major investor named IMMOWERK. However, the management of IMMOWERK is identical to the board of NORATIS. This is clearly a charade. The conflict of interest is obvious.”

Dr. Schirp adds: "We see clear parallels to the criminal ‘haircut’ on the Sympatex bond. In that case, members of the Otto family were involved in a bond haircut that has since led to several criminal convictions. Here, it is a company associated with the Merz family that is not honoring its own commitments and wants private investors to pay for it. In both cases, we have not accepted this, but will defend ourselves with all civil and criminal law means at our disposal. We ask creditors of the NORATIS bond (ISIN: DE000A3H2TV6, WKN: A3H2TV) to contact us."

For further information, please contact: Dr. Wolfgang Schirp, Schirp Schmidt-Morsbach Rechtsanwälte PartG mbB, Kantstraße 149, 10623 Berlin, Tel. 0179-5320213, email: schirp@schirp.com, URL: www.schirp.com