(1) If a legal entity divides its assets such that those parts of the assets necessary for managing a business essentially are transferred to one or several acquiring legal entities, or to one or several new legal entities, and the activities pursued by this legal entity or these legal entities essentially are limited to the management of these parts of the assets (investment vehicle), while the legal entity being acquired is allowed to use said parts of the assets to manage its business (operating company), and where essentially the same persons hold ownership interests in the legal entities involved in the division, then the investment vehicle will be liable, as a joint and several debtor, for the receivables to which the operating company’s employees are entitled, such receivables coming into existence, by reason of sections 111 to 113 of the Works Constitution Act (Betriebsverfassungsgesetz – BetrVerfG) in the course of five years following the date on which the division has taken effect. This will apply also in those cases in which the parts of the assets remain with the legal entity being acquired and the acquiring legal entity or new legal entity, or the acquiring legal entities or new legal entities, are allowed to use them.
(2) The liability as a joint and several debtor pursuant to subsection (1) applies also to any benefit obligations that were created based on the Company Pension Act (Betriebsrentengesetz – BetrAVG) prior to the division having taken effect.
(3) Section 133 subsection (3) sentence 1 and subsections (4) and (5) apply accordingly to the claims against the investment vehicle pursuant to subsections (1) and (2), with the proviso that the time limit commences running five years following the date designated in section 133 (4) sentence 1.