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Norton Rose advises on sale of 43.9% in Thomas Cook
11 September 2009


International legal practice Norton Rose LLP advised Bayern LB as agent for the senior lenders to insolvent German Arcandor AG in relation to the sale of approximately 43.9 percent of shares in travel company Thomas Cook Group plc (a FTSE 100 company). Key lenders under the senior facilities are Bayern LB, Commerzbank and The Royal Bank of Scotland. The disposal was part of the enforcement of the security package granted to the senior lenders, was effected by accelerated bookbuild/market placing which raised approximately £904 million.

The core team was led by Dirk Trautmann (Munich) and Julian Stanier (London) and included Igsaan Varachia, Jamie Nowak, Andrea Spellerberg, Markus Radbruch (all Munich), Paul Whitelock, Hamish Anderson, Stephen Rigby, Dominic Stuttaford, Thomas Vita, Fiona Evans, Katherine MacDonald, Andrew Roycroft, Amy Reed (all London), Tomas Gardfors, Carl Werner (both Frankfurt), Michael Jürgen Werner and Raluca Marian, Annette Klimisch and Caspar Ebrecht (all Brussels).

The instruction is part of ongoing advice provided to Bayern LB in connection with the insolvency of MDAX listed Arcandor AG which is coordinated out of Munich and also involves Norton Rose teams from Frankfurt, London, Moscow, Prague, Warsaw, Brussels and Amsterdam. The insolvency of Arcandor AG and most of its subsidiaries is the largest insolvency in Germany and due to the nature of its size and business (travel, department stores and home shopping) attracts high attention from the public.

For further information please contact:

Sean Twomey

Christine Wolf

Editors note

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Knowing how our clients’ businesses work and understanding what drives their industries is fundamental to us. Our lawyers share industry knowledge and sector expertise across borders, enabling us to support our clients anywhere in the world. We are strong in corporate finance; financial institutions; energy and infrastructure; transport; and technology.

The Group comprises Norton Rose LLP and its affiliates. We have over 1300 lawyers operating from offices in Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Athens, Bahrain, Bangkok, Beijing, Brussels, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Jakarta*, London, Milan, Moscow, Munich, Paris, Piraeus, Prague, Riyadh*, Rome, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo and Warsaw.

With effect from 1 January 2010, Deacons Australia, a leading Australian law firm with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra and teams in Singapore, Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City, will join Norton Rose Group. The enlarged Group will have over 1800 lawyers in 30 offices worldwide, 700 of whom will be based in Asia Pacific, and will form one of the best-resourced legal practices in the Asia Pacific region.

* associate office