Deal Announcement 12/19: Retail & Consumer

The Deal

The PwC M&A team is pleased to announce the successful sale of 106 Thomas Cook travel agencies and the Thomas Cook e-commerce platform “Golden Gate” to Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, a 100% affiliate of Austrian SIGNA Group.

As a consequence of the insolvency of the British parent company Thomas Cook plc, the German subsidiary of Thomas Cook also had to file for insolvency on 25 September 2019. Fabio Algari, Ottmar Hermann and Julia Kappel-Gnirs of hww hermann wienberg wilhelm were appointed as (preliminary) insolvency administrators of Thomas Cook in Germany. The (preliminary) insolvency administrators initiated a structured, international sale process. This sale process was led by PwC M&A.

The asset purchase agreement was signed and closed in December 2019.

Thomas Cook

Thomas Cook was the second largest German tour operator, mainly selling packaged tours under the brands Neckermann Reisen, Bucher, ÖGER TOURS, Thomas Cook Signature and Air Marin. Thomas Cook GmbH generated a revenue of about €2,670 Million in 2018, employing around 2,100 employees.

Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof

Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof is one of the leading retailers in Europe, with over 243 city center locations, 32,000 employees and a turnover of approximately EUR 5 billion.

The travel business of Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof has so far included 78 travel agencies in department stores as well as a further 22 inner-city travel agencies. The SIGNA Group is the parent company of the Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof department store group. The SIGNA Group is a privately managed, European investment and industrial holding company specialized in the retail and real estate sectors, among others.

hww hermann wienberg wilhelm

hww hermann wienberg wilhelm is a service provider specialised in legal advice, restructuring, insolvency and receivership. hww is represented in more than 20 cities in Germany and has its own international network. hww hermann wienberg wilhelm has been appointed by numerous insolvency courts throughout Germany in thousands of insolvency proceedings during its many years of activity.

PwC

The global PricewaterhouseCoopers network is a worldwide association of independent auditing and consulting companies which together employ more than 250,000 people in 158 countries. Our global network comprises nearly 1,550 M&A professionals all over the world, realising approx. 400 successful transactions per year. We specialise in a wide range of independent M&A services including advice on acquisitions and disposals, mergers, public takeovers, privatisations as well as structured financing.

The transaction was led by Timo Klees (Partner) as well as Dr. Alexander von Friesen (Partner). The M&A team also included Dr. Boris Hippel (Manager), Lukas Filippinetti (Senior Associate), Felix Lenk (Senior Associate), Hendrik Blumenstock (Senior Associate), Jonas Koch (Associate), Manuel Nowotny (Associate) and Florian Middelkamp (Associate).