Ashurst acts as legal adviser to the liquidator and Special Managers of Thomas Cook

This has involved acting on all aspects of the liquidation which has been an extensive and far-reaching multi-disciplinary project involving over 100 Ashurst lawyers in multiple jurisdictions, including the UK, Germany, Spain, China and the US.

Ashurst's role has included acting on the sale of Thomas Cook's UK retail estate to Hays Travel. This sale involved over 550 UK stores being taken over by Hays, providing re-employment opportunities for up to 2,000 former employees. Ashurst also assisted in the £11 million sale of the Thomas Cook brand to Fosun Tourism, saving the oldest name in world tourism from obscurity. The team has also advised on the disposal/ exchange of airport slots to multiple parties. 

The process has also involved several court applications and a hearing before the Civil Aviation Authority Panel in which Ashurst represented the liquidator. 

The Ashurst team is being jointly-led by restructuring and special situations partners Giles Boothman, Olga Galazoula and Lynn Dunne. RSSG senior associates Maria Staiano-Kolaitis and Richard Bulmore and counsel Inga West have also played significant roles. Derwin Jenkinson and Sarah Gant are advising on aviation aspects (alongside aviation specialist, Holman Fenwick Willan). Braeden Donnelly and Maria McAlister have provided advice on multiple corporate disposals and joint venture arrangements; Alison Hardy and Jonny Spencer have advised on real estate matters, Ruth Buchanan and Crowley Woodford on employment aspects and David Wilkinson on intellectual property issues. Nick Gardner and Paul Miller have been advising on tax issues. The international deals have included Cristina Calvo and Jorge Vazquez on Spanish disposals and Alexander Ballmann and Karsten Raupach on German aspects. 

Commenting on the winding up process, Giles Boothman said:

"This has been a significant mandate for Ashurst and I am very proud that we put together a team of really talented, experienced  lawyers to advise on such a wide range of difficult and time critical issues. In large, complex cross border insolvencies it is important to have a strong team of lawyers who can deal with demanding issues under significant time pressure.  Many of these lawyers were also required to be in multiple locations on day one to assist with the considerable disruption that arises from insolvency.  An added complication challenge was that we had an extremely short period to put the team together."