Lawyers in the Moscow office of Herbert Smith Freehills have joined the firm's multi-jurisdictional team advising the Anex Group on its acquisition of Intourist, Bucher Reisen, and Oger Tours. All three travel businesses were part of the insolvent Thomas Cook Group.
Herbert Smith Freehills describes the Turkey-based Anex Group, which is owned by entrepreneur Neset Kockar, as "a leading tour operator with key source markets in Russia, CIS, CEE, and Germany, serving over 30 destination markets around the globe."
Herbert Smith Freehills describes Intourist, which was founded in 1929, as "a renowned travel brand in Russia offering inbound and outbound travel services," and reports that "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."
The firm describes Oger Tours as "one of the leading providers of Turkish holidays in the German-speaking travel market and Asian travel specialist," and describes Bucher Reisen as "specializing for nearly 30 years in last-minute travel and year-round, low-cost travel in Germany."
Completion of both the German and Russian transactions, according to Herbert Smith Freehills, 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, the firm reports, and approvals on the Russian transaction are anticipated in the first quarter of 2020. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
The Herbert Smith Freehills team in Germany advising Anex Tour on the German transaction were led by Partner Nico Abel and included Partners Moritz Kunz, Marcel Nuys, and Steffen Horner, Counsels Rudiger Hoffmann and Florian Huerkamp, Consultant Anja Lingscheid, Senior Associates Julius Brandt and Simone Ziegler, and Associates Giada Lucchese, Mirko Gleitsmann, and Miriam Wehner.
The Herbert Smith Freehills team advising Anex Tour on the Russian transaction were led by London-based Partner Gavin Williams and included Moscow-based Partner Oleg Konnov, Moscow-based Of Counsel Evgeny Yuriev, and Moscow-based Associate Alexander Chupranov, as well as, in London, Partner John Chetwood, Senior Associate Brian O'Malley, and Associates Caroline Hagg and Steve Conyers, and in Madrid, Partners Pablo Garcia-Nieto and Javier Carjaval.
