BayWa Crisis: Cooperatives Take Over as Stock Soars on Rescue Plan
A dramatic power shift is underway at BayWa AG, as its long-time cooperative shareholders step in to take the reins of the struggling company. Bayerische Raiffeisen-Beteiligungs AG and Austria’s Raiffeisen Agrar Invest, together BayWa’s largest shareholders, have effectively secured control of the firm through a fresh capital injection Boerse Express Boerse Express. RAI – affiliated with farm supplier RWA in Austria – boosted its stake to about 37.9% earlier this year and “faktisch die Kontrolle… übernommen” Boerse Express. This cooperative-led rescue comes amid “die größte Krise der Unternehmensgeschichte” Boerse Express. BayWa, a 100-year-old agribusiness and renewable energy group, had amassed heavy debts and was forced to negotiate a broad restructuring with creditors and investors over the past year. In an emergency move, BayWa’s management agreed on a comprehensive turnaround plan in late 2024, which included asset sales and a two-step equity raise backed by the co-ops Baywa Baywa. By May 2025, over 95% of BayWa’s lenders supported the restructuring concept Baywa, and Germany’s financial regulator BaFin even pre-approved the cooperative investors to increase their stake beyond takeover thresholds via the planned capital increase.
