Herbert Smith Freehills advises ANEX Group on the acquisition of former Thomas Cook Businesses Intourist, Bucher Reisen and ÖGER TOURS

Herbert Smith Freehills has advised ANEX Group on the acquisition of Intourist, Bucher Reisen and ÖGER TOURS. All three travel businesses were part of the insolvent Thomas Cook Group.

Turkey-based Anex Group, owned by Mr. Neşet Koçkar, is a leading tour operator with key source markets in Russia, CIS, CEE and Germany serving over 30 destination markets around the globe.

Intourist, founded in 1929, is a renowned travel brand in Russia offering inbound and outbound travel services. The transaction involves the acquisition of Intourist’s inbound, outbound and domestic tour operator businesses, as well as retail stores, technology and other assets belonging to Thomas Cook Group.

ÖGER TOURS is one of the leading providers of Turkish holidays in the German-speaking travel market and Asian travel specialist. Bucher Reisen has been specialising for nearly 30 years in last-minute travel and year-round, low-cost travel in Germany.

Completion of both the German and Russian transactions is subject to relevant anti-trust approval. The German sale is also subject to the approval of the provisional creditors' committee. Approvals in respect of the German transaction are expected to be received by the end of November 2019; approvals on the Russian transaction are anticipated during Q1 2020. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

The Herbert Smith Freehills team advising ANEX Tour on the German transaction:

Herbert Smith Freehills, Germany: Dr Nico Abel (Lead, Partner), Rüdiger Hoffmann (Counsel), Dr. Julius Brandt (Senior Associate), Giada Lucchese (Associate, all Corporate/M&A, all Frankfurt); Moritz Kunz (Partner), Dr Anja Lingscheid (Consultant, both Employment), Dr Simone Ziegler (Senior Associate, Data Protection, all Frankfurt); Dr Marcel Nuys (Partner), Dr Florian Huerkamp (Counsel), Mirko Gleitsmann (Associate, all Competition, Düsseldorf); Dr Steffen Hörner (Partner), Miriam Wehner (Associate, both Tax, Frankfurt).

The Herbert Smith Freehills team advising ANEX Tour on the Russian transaction:

Herbert Smith Freehills, London: Gavin Williams (Lead, Partner), Brian O'Malley (Senior Associate), Caroline Hagg (Associate, all Corporate / M&A); John Chetwood (Partner), Steve Conyers (Associate, both Restructuring & Insolvency).

Herbert Smith Freehills, Moscow: Oleg Konnov (Partner), Evgeny Yuriev (Of Counsel), Alexander Chupranov (Associate).

Herbert Smith Freehills, Madrid: Pablo Garcia-Nieto (Partner), Javier Carjaval (Partner).