German battery manufacturer Varta AG has filed for self-administration at the Stuttgart District Court amid deepening financial problems.
The company said the decision was not due to a current loss of solvency, but rather to a structural financial shortfall expected to arise from 2027. Varta said the situation was exacerbated by weak market demand, the negative impact of exchange rates and the termination of cooperation by one of its major customers.
According to Reuters and German media, the customer in question is Apple. The company has decided to source its CoinPower rechargeable button batteries for its AirPods headphones from China.
Varta CEO Michael Ostermann said the company was working to protect jobs, continue operations and find the best solution for all stakeholders.
The company stressed that production is continuing and employees will continue to be paid. Meanwhile, Varta's profitable consumer battery business (Varta Consumer Batteries) was not included in the bankruptcy proceedings as it operates legally separately.
In addition, subsidiaries Varta Microbattery, Varta Micro Production and Varta Storage also filed for bankruptcy separately.
It should be noted that Varta was delisted from the Frankfurt and Vienna stock exchanges in March 2025, and in April of the same year it announced the completion of a previous restructuring process. According to Reuters, the company's shareholders, including Porsche AG and Austrian investor Michael Tojner, refused to provide additional financial support to Varta.
