(Bloomberg) -- The founder of the troubled device rental startup Grover who was forced out of the company a year ago is trying to stage a comeback by fighting a restructuring effort that may wipe out the value of investors’ equity. 

Michael Cassau, who created Grover in 2015 and left his post as chief executive officer last year after investors lost confidence in his leadership, is asking shareholders to now hand him their stakes in the German company so he can build a majority position, according to a presentation reviewed by Bloomberg.

In exchange, he’s promising to issue them a deferred payment that values the startup at as much as €900 million ($945 million) if he can turn it around and achieve certain growth targets, the documents show. 

Cassau is looking to head off a plan by the startup’s current management team to restructure Grover’s debt in a way that he says would wipe out the value that existing equity holders have in the company, according to the presentation and people familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified because the information is not public. 

Grover has used up half of its share capital, the money a company raises by issuing stock in its business, and plans to give investors an update on the state of restructuring efforts at a Dec. 17 meeting, a company notice reviewed by Bloomberg shows. 

Helge Reich, an attorney representing Grover, didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment on Cassau’s proposal. The company declined to provide comment on its restructuring efforts.

“Due to the usual confidentiality obligations, I cannot comment on any correspondence regarding my involvement in the company,” Cassau, who currently owns 12.5% of Grover, said by email. “I still consider Grover to be a company with enormous potential and believe that under my leadership, Grover can be one of the leading startups in Germany, Europe and worldwide.”

Grover’s financial troubles echo many startups in Germany that achieved massive valuations when low interest rates at the start of the decade helped fuel cash-burning operations. Grover said in 2021 it was valued at over $1 billion, before false starts like a failed push into the US market and rising interest rates left it with a heavy debt burden. German-speaking countries are on track to have fewer technology unicorns this year for the first time since 2015, according an October report by boutique investment bank Clipperton. 

Grover has hired US investment bank Houlihan Lokey Inc. to advise on restructuring its debt, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg and people familiar with the matter. Consultants McKinsey & Co. and AlixPartners are also advising the startup, according to the presentation and a person familiar with the situation.

Spokespeople for Houlihan Lokey, AlixPartners and McKinsey declined to comment. 

The company has raised at least €800 million in debt funding in Europe and $250 million in the US, according to a press release Grover issued in September 2022. It identified M&G and Fasanara Capital in statements as among its lenders. A spokesperson for M&G declined to comment. Fasanara didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.

Cassau is calling for votes at the Dec. 17 meeting to dismiss interim Chief Executive Officer Linda Rubin and Chairman Franco Danesi and reinstate himself at the company’s helm, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg. By German law, these items must be added to the agenda. 

Under Cassau’s plan, Grover would raise $150 million with a new convertible loan and restructure asset-backed debt in the first quarter of 2025 while cutting payroll, general and administrative expenses by at least 75%, the presentation shows. The size of the payment to current equity holders who sign on to Cassau’s program is contingent on Grover improving its valuation, according to the proposal. 

Since Cassau left, Rubin has taken several cost-saving measures, including pulling the company out of the US market, scrapping new products and slashing staff by about one-third to 300 workers, according to press releases and local media reports.

Grover said it raised money in July with €50 million in a bridge financing round from investors including Circularity Capital, Energy Impact Partners and Korelya. German newspaper Handelsblatt reported at the time that the funding deal cut the company’s valuation to less than $1 billion.

--With assistance from Libby Cherry.

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