German news agency dapd closes

[April 12, 2013]  BERLIN (AP) -- An insolvency administrator has ordered the German news agency dapd to shut operations immediately after it failed to find investors.

A statement from administrator Petra Hilgers says the search for new partners to invest capital has failed, and "the delivery of news to customers will end today." Hilgers' office says she is not available for further comment.

Cornelia Hass, head of the German journalists' union ver.di, said Hilgers delivered the news Thursday afternoon to dapd employees. The agency, which filed for bankruptcy in October, employs more than 150 people and many freelancers.

Investors Martin Vorderwuelbecke and Peter Loew established dapd after buying the German-language service of The Associated Press in late 2009 and merging it with the news agency ddp to form Germany's second-largest agency.

[Associated Press]

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