Campa AG

Campa AG was a German energy-sector corporate group that produced, traded and marketed biofuels on national and international markets. It was one of Germany's largest biodiesel producers and the market leader in southern Germany. The group's origins lie in the founding of Campa Biodiesel GmbH & Co. KG in 1999, followed in 2000 by the start-up of a biodiesel plant in Ochsenfurt with an initial production capacity of 75,000 tonnes per year, making Campa one of the pioneers of the German biofuel industry. In 2002 the Campa energie GmbH & Co. KG was founded as a pure sales and trading arm, and in 2005 the Ochsenfurt biodiesel capacity was expanded to 150,000 tonnes per year. The holding company Campa AG was established in 2006, together with Campa iberia for sales in Spain, Portugal and France. An oil mill was completed in autumn 2007, the same year Campa received the Bavarian sponsorship prize for renewable raw materials. A second biodiesel plant in Straubing, with a combined heat and power plant and rapeseed and rapeseed meal storage, was to be completed in 2008. The group's operations were divided into three areas: oilseeds, production and trade. Subsidiaries of the AG included Campa Biodiesel GmbH & Co. KG (production, Ochsenfurt), Campa Süd GmbH & Co. KG (production, Straubing) and Campa energie GmbH & Co. KG (trade and sales, Ochsenfurt). The marketing company Campa iberia SA in Spain was a wholly owned subsidiary of Campa energie GmbH & Co. KG. Campa operated its own rapeseed methyl ester transesterification plant in Ochsenfurt with a production capacity of 150,000 tonnes of biodiesel per year (2007) according to DIN EN 14214, and sold 270,000 tonnes in the 2005/06 financial year. It also operated an oil mill (extraction press plant) in Straubing for producing rapeseed oil under its own brand Campa öl. Besides its own Campa diesel brand, Campa marketed biofuels from third-party producers to freight forwarders, mineral oil companies and dealers. Campa was the initiator and one of three member companies of the Biodiesel-Partner-Tank (BPT) chain with more than 120 filling stations nationwide, giving it access to the end-customer business, and it was also connected to the Europe-wide filling station network of Scheier Europe via fuel card. As a further pillar, Campa carried out the planning and construction of biodiesel plants and the cultivation of oilseeds. More than 2,000 farmers and over 10,000 producers supplied the group, so that it covered the entire value chain. The largest Campa shareholder (42.47%) was the Ochsenfurt-based Verwertungsgesellschaft für nachwachsende Rohstoffe GmbH & Co. KG (VNR). Around 2,000 farmers held a total of about 11.4 million euros as silent partners in VNR. On 26 May 2008 Campa filed for insolvency proceedings, affecting Campa Biodiesel GmbH & Co. KG, Campa Energie GmbH & Co. KG, Campa Süd GmbH & Co. KG and Campa AG. The group's liabilities amounted to around 100 million euros, of which around 85 million were due to delays and cost overruns in the construction of the Straubing oil mill. The silent investments of around 2,000 farmers totalling at least 15 million euros could not be secured through an insolvency plan and were completely lost. In August 2008 the US company Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) agreed to take over the company subject to approval by the Federal Cartel Office, offering around 50 million euros for the Straubing oil mill; the Ochsenfurt biodiesel refinery was to be sold separately. The sale of the oil mill to ADM was approved in October 2008, while the Ochsenfurt plant went to VNR for a single-digit million euro amount. In March 2009 Tecosol GmbH in Ochsenfurt took over as successor to the insolvent biodiesel producer Campa and continued to use "Campa" as a brand name.

Campa's history began with the founding of Campa Biodiesel GmbH & Co. KG in 1999. In 2000, the biodiesel plant in Ochsenfurt started operation with an initial production capacity of 75,000 tonnes per year, making Campa one of the pioneer companies of the German biofuel industry. In 2002, Campa energie GmbH & Co. KG was founded as a pure sales and trading branch. In 2005, the biodiesel production capacity in Ochsenfurt was expanded to 150,000 tonnes per year. In 2006, the holding company Campa AG was founded, along with Campa iberia for sales in Spain, Portugal and France. In autumn 2007, an oil mill was completed. In 2007, Campa received the Bavarian sponsorship prize for renewable raw materials. A second biodiesel plant in Straubing with a combined heat and power plant and rapeseed and rapeseed meal storage was to be completed in 2008. On 26 May 2008, Campa filed for the opening of insolvency proceedings. Affected were Campa Biodiesel GmbH & Co. KG, Campa Energie GmbH & Co. KG, Campa Süd GmbH & Co. KG and Campa AG. The group's liabilities amounted to around 100 million euros, of which around 85 million were due to delays and cost overruns in the construction of the Straubing oil mill. According to the provisional insolvency administrator's announcement of 2 August 2008, the silent investments of around 2,000 farmers totalling at least 15 million euros could not be secured through an insolvency plan procedure and were thus completely lost. Continued operation of Campa including employees was, however, probably assured, and negotiations with investors were ongoing. On 15 August 2008, the insolvency adviser Bruno Fraas announced that the US company Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) would take over the company if the Federal Cartel Office agreed. ADM offered around 50 million euros for the oil mill at the company headquarters in Straubing, the highest offer among a series of interested parties. The biodiesel refinery in Ochsenfurt was to be excluded from the sale and sold separately. The newspaper Main-Post reported on 8 October 2008 that the sale of the oil mill to ADM had been approved by the cartel office; the plant in Ochsenfurt went to VNR for a single-digit million euro amount – according to VNR's homepage on 1 September 2008; according to its homepage, the Ochsenfurt company now bears the name Campa GmbH & Co. KG. The Ochsenfurt-based VNR Verwertungsgesellschaft für nachwachsende Rohstoffe mbH & Co. KG and the newly founded Campa GmbH & Co. KG filed for insolvency proceedings on 28 November 2008 at the competent insolvency court in Würzburg due to insolvency and overindebtedness. In the view of the insolvency administrator Frank Hanselmann, Würzburg, management deficiencies were decisive for the insolvency. In March 2009, Tecosol GmbH in Ochsenfurt took over as successor to the insolvent biodiesel producer Campa. Tecosol continues to use "Campa" as a brand name. The shareholders of Tecosol are: Krauss GmbH & Co. KG, Aichtalk (40%), Dr. Ralf Türck, Stuttgart (10%), Lendl GmbH, Waldenbuch (5%), Dr. Roland Ballier (20%), VALIANT d.o.o., Ljubljana (25%). VALIANT only joined as a shareholder on 12 August 2010.

• 2010

  VALIANT d.o.o. joins Tecosol as shareholder on 12 August.

• 2009

  Tecosol GmbH takes over as successor and continues the Campa brand.

• 2008

  Insolvency proceedings filed on 26 May; ADM acquires Straubing oil mill; Ochsenfurt plant sold to VNR.

• 2007

  Oil mill completed; Campa receives Bavarian sponsorship prize for renewable raw materials.

• 2006

  Holding company Campa AG and Campa iberia founded.

• 2005

  Ochsenfurt biodiesel capacity expanded to 150,000 t/year.

• 2002

  Campa energie GmbH & Co. KG founded as sales and trading branch.

• 2000

  Biodiesel plant in Ochsenfurt starts operation with 75,000 t/year capacity.

• 1999

  Campa Biodiesel GmbH & Co. KG founded.

One of Germany's largest biodiesel producers and market leader in southern Germany, covering the entire biofuel value chain from oilseed cultivation to end-customer filling stations.

• Campa diesel (biodiesel)

  Own-brand biodiesel produced at the Ochsenfurt plant with 150,000 t/year capacity (2007).

• Campa öl (rapeseed oil)

  Rapeseed oil produced at the Straubing oil mill from rapeseed.

• Third-party biofuels

  Biofuels from other producers marketed to freight forwarders, mineral oil companies and dealers.

1. 1Campa AG – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org
2. 2Campa AG – Wikidatawikidata.org