Salzburg ski area Gaißau-Hintersee filed for insolvency
The small Salzburg ski area Gaißau-Hintersee is facing the third bankruptcy procedure since 2017. The emergency manager Stephan Gappmaier, who was appointed two weeks ago, filed for bankruptcy on Thursday afternoon at the Salzburg Regional Court. The step could be an opportunity for continued operation for those who are about to leave the ski area. From today’s perspective, however, it seems unlikely that the lifts will be in operation next winter.
“As far as I was able to get an overview, the company turned out to be insolvent,” said the lawyer Gappmaier to the APA. He was therefore obliged to file for bankruptcy. According to the creditor protection association Creditreform, around 70 creditors are affected, since there is currently no operation taking place, the company currently has no employees.
No liquidity
From the current perspective, liabilities are around EUR 1.2 million. These are mainly bank debts, open leases to landowners and receivables from contractors, suppliers and selected workers. “There are no liquid funds,” said the emergency manager. The assets of the cable car company would be fixed assets such as the base station buildings and the lifts themselves.
Gappmaier emphasized that the request made by the preferred operators for the lifts to be dismantled is still valid. “The insolvency administrator must clarify with the state of Salzburg whether this application will be withdrawn. A dismantling is currently not ready for a decision anyway, because a negotiation date is still necessary.”
Since the summer of 2020, the ski area has been owned by Eibl Holding GmbH, headed by local demolition and transport company Bernhard Eibl. He had taken over the ski area together with a Viennese lawyer after the bankruptcy proceedings in 2019. The business partner left in June 2021 and handed over his 50 percent stake in Eibl. He had big plans. There was talk of a new gondola, an artificial circumcision and a large reservoir – investments of around 22 million euros were on the agenda.
Owner threw down at Easter
The company reported in the spring that the 2021/2022 winter season had gone well – until the big bang followed in Holy Week 2022. Eibl threw in the towel a good week after handing over management to his then partner. In a letter to the mayor, landowners and tourism associations, he complains about “old-fashioned structures”, “inefficient operational processes”, the “self-dynamics of the employees” and “non-application-related promises”. Under he informed to have a demolition attempt for all lifts two weeks before.
On the other hand, officials said that Eibl had not been available to them for weeks. In addition, there was criticism of apparently incorrect pay slips. Because the new managing director also resigned from her position in June 2022, neither the cable car company nor the parent company had a managing director. At the request of a creditor, Gappmaier was appointed emergency manager of Eibl Holding GmbH on August 18 because there was no longer any reaction to claims and invoices. The country had also turned to the court because it needed a management for the strenuous demolition procedure for the lifts.
local community hope
The neighboring communities are now hoping that there will be some movement in the recently deadlocked situation. The Krispler Mayor Andreas Ploner (ÖVP) confirmed to the APA talks between five communities in the region and the state government about saving the ski area. “However, it was agreed not to disclose any content until a clear regulation is in place. However, after the turbulence of the past few years, we would like a permanent solution.”
The state of Salzburg has meanwhile continued to be willing to pay two million euros in funding if a detailed, economical and sustainable concept is presented.
In theory, operation of the lift in the coming winter would be possible, believes emergency manager Gappmaier. “The lifts are available and could probably start operating relatively quickly. But it would need staff and, of course, snow.” However, he considers it highly probable that the insolvency administrator will appear as the operator of the lifts – new owners are needed first.
Turbulent history
The ski area at the gates of the state capital has an eventful history behind it. In 1970 the first lift – a two-seater chair lift – was opened. It is said to have been the longest double chair lift in Europe at the time. Other systems followed, in 1985 via the ski area to the Saalbach-Hinterglemm mountain railways. They sold it to an investor in 2011.
In 2014, a Salzburg company took over the majority of the company and brought a Chinese financier on board, who subsequently took over 75 percent of the ailing operation. After several winters with little snow, the company successfully redeemed itself in January 2017 through a restructuring process. However, the majority owner still owed the promised investments as well as outstanding lease payments. For this reason, bankruptcy proceedings were opened again in autumn 2019, from which Eibl and his business partners finally emerged as the new owners.