After two years of negotiations, the APCOA Group amicably implemented its financial restructuring together with creditors and previous owner Eurazeo late last week. The measure reduces the APCOA Group’s debt by more than EUR 440 million and the term of credit facilities by up to six years. EUR 80 million in financing will also be provided for planned growth. Eurazeo will transfer its shares in the APCOA Group to financial creditors.
Eurazeo had acquired the APCOA Group in 2007 from Investcorp for approx. EUR 885 million. A downturn in business in the years that followed led the company into a crisis. On 12 December 2014 the company announced that by significantly reducing its debt, APCOA has secured a sound financial basis, laying the groundwork for future growth.
The APCOA Group is Europe’s leading parking facility operator. With 7,400 sites in twelve European countries, it employs a workforce of approx. 4,700.
Gleiss Lutz has advised Eurazeo S.A., a listed French private equity investor based in Paris that operates in a wide range of industries (investing in companies including Accor, Europcar and Moncler), extensively in recent years on its investment in APCOA. This latest matter involved advising on the successfully implemented restructuring, including coordinating legal advice in four additional jurisdictions.
Dr. Jan Bauer (partner, corporate/M&A, Frankfurt), Dr. Matthias Tresselt (partner from 1 January 2015, restructuring, Stuttgart) and Dr. Helge Kortz (Partner, banking and finance, Frankfurt) took the lead in the matter. The Gleiss Lutz team also comprised the following lawyers: Dr. Andreas Spahlinger (partner, restructuring, Stuttgart), Dr. Maximilian von Rom (partner, banking and finance, Frankfurt), Dr. Stefan Mayer (partner, tax, Frankfurt), Dr. Achim Dannecker (partner, tax, Stuttgart), Dr. Eric Wagner (partner, dispute resolution, Stuttgart) and Dr. Cornelia Topf (partner, corporate/M&A, Frankfurt) as well as Teresa Baldwin (banking and finance, Frankfurt), Matthias J. Müller (corporate/dispute resolution, Stuttgart), Melanie Nadler (tax, Frankfurt), Dr. Jörg F. Kurzenberger (tax, Stuttgart), Dr. Rüdiger Schmidt-Bendun and Jan Philipp Mohr (both corporate/M&A, Frankfurt).
Gleiss Lutz’s restructuring practice is regularly involved in key restructuring and insolvency cases in Germany. For example, it is currently advising publishing house Suhrkamp Verlag on protective shield and subsequent insolvency (plan) proceedings. Most recently it was also involved in the restructuring of Solarworld, Pfleiderer, IVG and centrotherm.
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