Rosenthal, the Bavarian ceramic firm that was part of the Waterford Wedgwood group, is likely to be sold to an Italian cutlery firm, Sambonet. The Bank of America wants €40m for the business from the German appointed administrator handling the sale and it is a separate transaction to the Waterford Crystal and Wedgwood sale that was negotiated by Deloitte and Touche three months ago.
In Germany, it is hoped that the purchase of Rosenthal will amount to a second start for the company whose remaining factory is in Selb on the German-Czech border. Rosenthal is still in production, employs 900 people and has its corporate head-quarters in Munich.
The patents and intellectual property are also to be sold by the Bank of America to the Italian firm which is currently in the process of raising the finance to complete the purchase. It is estimated that approximately €5m will be raised through the purchase of existing stock at Rosenthal.
