Ratiopharm, the German-based generic drug maker owned by the billionaire Merckle family announced Wednesday the end of the liquidity crisis - or at least, evidence of a lightening recession and restorative period for the international economy.

Unfortunately, Monday afternoon was marked with news of the suicide of Adolf Merckle - with confirmation yesterday from the family itself - the head of the family fortune with an estimated net worth of $9.2 billion. Adolf allegedly committed suicide by stepping in front of a train after receiving news that no emergency financing would be available to his company - theoretically, due to the liquidity crisis in family of companies with such strong fundamentals.

Adolf had contacted an insolvency lawyer in December, preparing to initiate bankruptcy proceedings after a squeeze in value associated with a lost bet on Volkswagen stock - losing the company well over $300 million Euros.

In a breath of good news today, a $400 million Euro loan was cleared for the Merckle family to bridge restructuring between the Merkle investment company, VEM Aktienbank AG, and it’s numerous subsidiaries; including a critical sale of Ratiopharm GmBH.

Shares in HeidelbergCement (FWB: HEIG), another of the Merckle family’s primary holdings were up nearly 5 per cent this morning - following the announcement of fresh capital, an announcement which should be widely appreciated after the company took on large amounts of debt last year to purchase Hanson, their chief British competitor.

 Print This   Email This