Abellio Train Service is maintained: GvW advises State Governments on Train Company’s Insolvency
GvW advised local public transport provider Nahverkehrsservice Sachsen-Anhalt GmbH (NASA), the Thuringia State Office of Construction and Transportation (TLBV) and other transport authorities on the insolvency of train operator Abellio Rail Mitteldeutschland GmbH (ABRM).
ABRM is a German subsidiary of Utrecht-based Abellio Transport Holding and coordinated the German business of the Dutch State Railways. ABRM operates approximately half of all regional rail tracks in the German federal states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. In addition to these operations in Middle Germany, further regional tracks were operated by subsidiaries in North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony and Baden-Württemberg. The companies had been making losses for some time, which prompted Abellio Group to negotiate with the transport authorities to amend the existing transport contracts. Given that no nation-wide agreement with the respective transport authorities was reached, the subsidiaries filed for insolvency in self-administration in June 2021. Following the successful efforts of NASA and the TLBV during the preliminary insolvency proceedings to maintain uninterrupted train service with the assistance of GvW, a final agreement has now been reached between all parties to maintain train service on the affected routes in the long term. Last Friday, the insolvency court confirmed the insolvency plan providing for ABRM to be reorganised, as a result of which the insolvency proceedings will be cancelled effective 30 June 2022.
GvW advised NASA and the TLBV through a team headed by Dr Dietrich Drömann (Budget Law, Public Procurement Law, State Aid and Subsidies, Regulatory Law) and Ansgar Hain (Insolvency Law), along with Dr Ulrich Schroeder (Corporate Law), Dr Bettina Meyer-Hofmann (Public Procurement Law), Dr Frank Tschesche (Tax Law), Dr Michael Kleiber (State Aid and Subsidies), Dr Patrick Wolff (Banking and Leasing Contract Law) and Birgit Lotz (Public Procurement Law).
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