Dr. Adolf Merckle, one of the richest people in Germany, has incurred significant losses from wrong-way bets on Volkswagen shares, putting him under pressure to restructure or sell assets.
Speculation has been sparked that he could sell his Ratiopharm generic drug business.
Merckle has now turned to the government of Germany for bailout assistance. If agreed to, a Merckle bailout would be one of the first non-banking state bail-outs in Germany since the start of the financial crisis.
