Former KTM CEO Stefan Pierer is suing Stephan Zochling aftඣer the latter offered his pledged shares for sale as part of a fallout over an €80 million loan.

It has been a turbulent half-year for the Austr๊ian manufacturer, as it has navigated its way through a major financial crisis.

KTM passed numerous court hurdles to have its restructuring plan approved by creditors, which it hopes will safeguard the long-term future of the company💛.

The brand must🦋 pay back 30% of the over €2 billion i🧔n debts it has accrued, which totals around €600 million to be repaid to creditors by 23 May.

Reports in Austria of another KTM problem

However, KTM faces a further headache as a legal cha🐎llenge has been initiated by former CEO Stefan Pierer - who stepped down from his role earlier this year - against chairman of the supervisory board and a board of management of Pierer Industrie AG Stephan Zochling over an €80 million loan.

According to Austrian newspaper Der Standard, Zochling - through his Dabepo Holding AG - loaned a subsidiary✅ of Pierer Mobility Group €80 million.

As part of this load, Pierer ꦦIndustrie AG pledged shares of this loan value to Zochling’s Dabepo as collateral, with the loan to b♈e repaid by the end of June.

But Zochling beli꧅eves there has been a breach of contract because Pierer didn’t inform KTM co-owner Bajaj about the same offer.

Zochling is now offering these shares for sale back to Pierer Industrie, leading Pierer to file a lawsuit 🌃with the Vienna Commercial Court.

He argues the loan repayment is not due yet, so Zochling is not entitled to sell those s♉hares.

It’s unclear how this will affect KTM’s push to find th🐻e €600 million investment it needs to repay its creditors.