Arcandor to get bailout
ARCANDOR, the biggest shareholder in tour operator Thomas Cook, is set to receive €50m (£40m) of state aid, it emerged yesterday.
The German government agreed with state ministers from Bavaria and Saxony to provide the bailout for the Quelle mail order unit of the company, which will see €25m come from the federal government, and €25m from the states.
Germany had been discussing whether to back the loan to keep Quelle alive after parent company, retailer Arcandor, filed for bankruptcy. Hopes for a deal have been fading in recent days but a last minute rescue was engineered.
“With this agreement Quelle now has a chance for a reorganisation,” said liquidator Klaus Hubert Goerg.
Thomas Cook boss Manny Fontenla-Novoa has said the UK company is “ring-fenced” from the chaos in Germany.