Despite months of industry speculation citing all sorts of different ownership end game scenarios, bankrupt Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM is now, effectively, under the ownership of its long-time partner and, formerly, 49 % stakeholder, Bajaj Auto in India. However, in the true tradition of byzantine KTM corporate structures, it wasn ' t as simple as someone in India simply hitting ' send ' on a bank transfer. First of all, Bajaj strung out its fresh investment until as close to the critical May 23 deadline for creditors to receive the( reluctantly) agreed 30 % of the debt as possible( some € 548m /$ 626m was needed). Second, Baja Auto in India hasn ' t actually used its, or the owning family ' s own money. The money has been borrowed by Bajaj Auto International Holdings BV, Netherlands(' Bajaj Auto BV ') with the Dutch subsidiary taking out a loan in Europe for € 566m( approx. $ 646m)- facilitated and backed by Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and DBS Bank of Singapore. Bajaj had previously provided an additional $ 200m of interim working capital. A May 19 statement released by Bajaj

Auto and another released by( former?) KTM parent company Pierer Mobility AG on May 20 confirmed that the finance was now in place to meet the requirements of the KTM AG court managed restructuring plan on time. This saga has seen the ' KTM and sister brands '( Husqvarna and GasGas) trigger some 1,000 lay-offs and needing to get its arms around over € 2bn( nearly $ 2.3bn) of debt.

It is KTM AG, KTM Components GmbH and KTM Forschungs & Entwicklungs GmbH that have been restructured and KTM AG that has been granted a € 450m /$ 514m loan by ' Baja Auto BV '. Therefore, having been in financial trouble, KTM AG has been loaded with debt in order to escape being in financial trouble. While Bajaj Auto BV stands as principal for the loan, common sense dictates that the

effective repayment capital will be bled from the profits that the dealer network generates for their OEM partner from future unit sales. Most of that unpaid debt now sits as debt in the balance sheets of KTM ' s unsecured creditors( its suppliers) and investors, giving the ' KTM ' balance sheets a significant post-restructuring boost of around € 1.3bn /$ 1.5bn from having been able to ' dump the debt '. While the post-deal ' KTM ' structure remains as complex as ever, what is now known is that Pierer Bajaj AG is the majority shareholder of PIERER Mobility AG with Pierer Industrie AG holding a 50.1 % stake in Pierer Bajaj AG. The remaining 49.9 % stake is held by ' Bajaj Auto BV '. Subject to regulatory approvals, " indirect control " over PIERER Mobility AG will pass to ' Bajaj Auto BV ' " until the end of May 2026." This may sound like an interim solution, but Bajaj holds all the cards here. Among other changes, the Annual General Meeting on June 23, 2025, will include the formal departure of Stefan Pierer and the addition to the supervisory board of Bajaj Auto CFO Dinesh Thapar.

PETERSEN MUSEUM