FRANKFURT, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Windreich AG, Germany’s largest developer of offshore wind farms, has filed for insolvency and its chief executive has stepped down after financing talks for a 400 megawatt (MW) project stalled.

The company made its filing with a German court late last week and now its CEO Willi Balz, who also owns the group, has resigned effective immediately, Windreich said in a statement late on Monday.

“In talks with our investors it became clear that a change in management was a prerequisite for the successful continuation of talks,” Windreich’s new chief Werner Heer said.

Windreich plans, builds and sells wind parks and is a key player in Germany’s offshore wind park expansion.

Balz told Reuters last year that he hoped to sell the 400 megawatt MEG I project by the end of 2012, and that 700 million of the 800 million euros in equity needed for the project had already been committed.

Heer said in Monday’s statement that talks with institutional investors were now on the home stretch. He and Windreich’s other managers will write up a restructuring plan over the coming weeks that should leave MEG I unaffected and will present it to creditors and investors.

MEG I is a project to build a wind farm about 45 km north of the German North Sea island Borkum. According to Windreich’s website, construction of MEG I is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2015. (Reporting by Maria Sheahan and Alexander Huebner; Editing by Alison Williams)