Rollei in Receivership

[rxmd]

Not exactly Rollei, which is just a brand name, but Franke & Heidecke, makers of the Rolleiflex TLRs and the Hy6 medium format hybrid digital camera, have entered receivership (once more - the company has a history of being in receivership every couple of years).

It's all over the German news sites, one example with a press release is at Photo Scala (in German).

Basically in September 2008 the company was bought by an investor, who is a Rollei fan and tried to save the company by injecting capital, hiring specialists and getting rid of the old management by dumping it into a spin-off company selling cheap Chinese P&S cameras under the Rollei name. However, this was not enough; there were some hidden problems discovered in the company's books that the investor wasn't aware of at the time of the takeover, and currently the company is missing a two-digit sum in the millions of Euros.

German insolvency law is usually geared towards the survival of the company, so there might be some hope for the camera factory (which has survived more than one such instance!), but for part of the 131-strong work force it's looking grim, just as for part of the present investors.

 

[joachim]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing. I too hope something survives, also for the 131-strong workforce. If I ever get rich, I might want a new Rolleiflex.

Concerning our old, user Rolleiflex and Rolleicords servicing is typically done by independent repairers. If the model you are using is reasonably common, spares will be available by caniblising dead ones for a long time and most of the time, Rolleis don't actually need spares, just adjustment and lubrication.