The Platform Group Rushes Out €5M Bond Buyback as Fraud Allegations and Loan Cancellations Mount

Software group announces €5M bond buyback after 55% stock plunge, but faces criminal probes, cancelled loans, and June 30 deadline for key acquisition.

The software group is turning to its balance sheet to calm investors after a brutal sell-off wiped more than half its market value in a month. Management announced a bond buyback program worth up to €5 million, starting July 2, with an independent service provider handling purchases on the Frankfurt and Berlin exchanges. The move is intended to signal financial stability, but it comes as the company faces a deepening crisis involving criminal probes, cancelled loans, and a looming deadline for a major acquisition.

Shares touched a 52-week low of €1.20 last Monday, extending a 30-day decline of roughly 55%. The stock has since attempted to recover — gaining 3.25% to €1.43 on a recent Wednesday — but the volatility remains extreme, with annualized volatility near 139%. The relative strength index had already flashed deeply oversold territory, suggesting the sell-off may have been overdone, but the buyback announcement now puts management’s liquidity stewardship directly under the spotlight.

A crisis of trust

The sell-off was sparked by a series of damaging reports that emerged around June 16. LBBW and Sparkasse Essen are said to have terminated loans with outstanding claims of roughly €6.75 million and €5.1 million respectively. Even more troubling, the Chemnitz public prosecutor’s office is reviewing a criminal complaint for suspected document forgery and fraud. The allegation: joint liability declarations from managing directors of certain subsidiaries may have been signed without their knowledge. Germany’s financial regulator BaFin has also received related tips.

The company denies all allegations, calling them a targeted campaign. It has instructed law firm LHR to seek an expedited court order against the dissemination of the claims, and has announced a lawsuit including demands for damages against a manager magazin article from June 12.

Fundamentals versus the headlines

Operationally, the numbers tell a more stable story. In the first quarter of 2026, revenue jumped 51% to €243 million, while adjusted EBITDA rose 37% to €21.8 million. For the full year, management maintains its guidance of €1 billion in net revenue. Last year, the group posted sales of €728 million and an adjusted operating result of €55 million.

But the legal noise has drowned out the financial performance. The company now faces a critical inflection point: a self-imposed June 30 deadline to secure financing for the acquisition of pharmaceutical wholesaler AEP. If the deal goes through, the group’s gross merchandise volume could eventually reach €3.0 billion. If it falls apart, the company will have to fall back on a lower forecast basis of €1.7 billion.

What comes next

Investors are watching two events closely. An investor conference is scheduled for June 25 in Paris, and the annual general meeting will take place in Düsseldorf on July 1 — the same day the bond buyback is set to begin. At the AGM, management will have to address the allegations and the financing situation head-on.

The bond repurchase itself is modest relative to the group’s size, but it serves a clear psychological purpose. By buying back its own debt, The Platform Group hopes to demonstrate that it has both the cash and the conviction to weather the storm. Whether that is enough to restore credibility remains an open question as the legal calendar and the AEP deadline converge.