Germany's huge bail-out fund for industry may make its first big payout this week, coming to the aid of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, one of the world's biggest makers of printing presses, dpa quoted sources in the German government as saying today. The news magazine Der Spiegel said Heidelberger had applied for a loan of 300 million euros (405 million dollars) and a guarantee of 400 million euros. The company could not be contacted to comment on the figure. Spiegel said more than 1,000 German companies had so far applied for a loan programme run by the federal KfW bank. The so-called Germany Fund for recession-hit firms has been authorized to extend 75 billion euros in guarantees and 25 billion euros in KfW loans and is gradually processing the first applications. The fund matches a similar bail-out scheme for banks. Several days ago, the German retailing group Arcandor said it would seek a guarantee of 650 million euros from the Germany Fund. The sources said the Fund board could possibly rule at its meeting on Wednesday on how much help Heidelberger should receive. Der Spiegel said carmaker Porsche had asked KfW if it would qualify for a 1-billion euro loan. Asked for comment, a Porsche spokesman in Stuttgart told the German Press Agency dpa, "We don't disclose which banks we approach for loans." According to the report, carmaker BMW and truckmaker Iveco had also sought huge guarantees.
