After a night of bargaining, Petter Stordalen and Harald Mix's purchase of Ving was closed, confirms bankruptcy trustee Mikael Kubu.
”"If one piece of the puzzle fell, there was a risk that everything would fall," he says of last night's affair.
In a grand ceremony, Petter Stordalen and Harald Mix, together with British TDR, were presented on Wednesday as the new owners of the Nordic branch of the bankrupt company Thomas Cook.
But at about the same time as the company's thousands of employees were cheering, a time-critical rescue operation was still underway in the district court and at the company Ackordcentralen, which had been hired by the Ving buyers. On Wednesday, the bankruptcy application for three Thomas Cook companies registered in Stockholm was submitted to the Stockholm District Court. Mikael Kubu was appointed as bankruptcy administrator after a quick decision by the district court. At 6 p.m., the Danish Thomas Cook company was also declared bankrupt.
”"There were a lot of conditions in this transfer and those conditions had to be met within a very short period of time. Among other things, the Swedish transfer was conditional on the Danish transfer taking place," explains Mikael Kubu.
In Denmark, all leases of planes were to be transferred, which was critical for operations to resume on Thursday morning. In addition, there were several different conditions that Mikael Kubu cannot provide details about.
”But the thing is, if one piece of the puzzle falls, there is a risk that everything will fall – and then it becomes very problematic,” he says.
Late on Thursday night, everything was ready and the deal could be closed according to plan, says Mikael Kubu.
”"This is a very carefully planned rescue operation of the business. A lot had been planned for weeks, but there is still a lot to be done at the end," he says.
Those who have purchased trips from Ving will not be affected by the bankruptcy, but the new owners have committed to fulfilling those agreements. All the agreements that are necessary to be able to continue operating the business will be taken over by the new business. However, there will still be debts with the companies, such as pensions and bond liabilities.
”"The debts will remain. We will get some money through the sales – and in the end there will be a dividend to the creditors. It is a standard operation," he says.
The staff will receive their pension through PRI Pensionsgaranti, which in turn owns the debt to the company.
The state will be charged for employees' holiday pay for this year and last year, where the state wage guarantee needs to come into play.
Mikael Kubu has no figures on how much the cost to the state will be.
Ving's press service confirms that flights are now running as planned.
Source: di.se
