CMS advises Media-Saturn on sale of Saturn stores in France

The METRO GROUP and its subsidiary Media-Saturn-Holding GmbH, together with the shareholders (the Kellerhals and Stiefel families), have signed an agreement for the sale of the 34 Saturn stores in France to HTM Group.

An international team of experts from CMS's offices in Paris, Lyon, Cologne and Brussels advised on this wide-ranging and complex transaction. What made this cross-border transaction particularly challenging was the enormous time pressure, with just two months being available. The relevant boards on both sides have approved the transaction; the terms of the sale were not disclosed. The sale is still awaiting approval by the competition authorities. The associated merger control proceedings have been started.

In 2009, Saturn had some 2,000 employees in France, generating sales of EUR 583 million. The HTM Group will continue to operate the 34 stores and take over all the employees. Talks with employee representatives have been completed and after a transitional period of a few months the Saturn stores will be renamed Boulanger stores.

Advisers CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre:
Alexandra Rohmert, Corporate / M&A
Alain Herrmann, Employment Law
Denis Redon and Virginie Coursière, Competition
François Hellio, Tax
Xavier Vahramian, Real Estate & Construction
Fabien Lefebvre, Real Estate & Construction

Advisers CMS Hasche Sigle:
Prof. Gordian Hasselblatt, IP, Client Relationship Partner
Klaus Jäger, M&A, Lead Partner
Dr Malte Bruhns, Corporate / M&A
Dr Michael Bauer, Competition
Dr Petra Schaffner, M&A
Dr Richard Mayer-Uellner, Corporate / M&A
Dr Hagen Weishaupt, Corporate / M&A
Dr David Kipping, IP
Michael Kamps, IT
Dr Björn Herbers, Competition
Julia Glaser, Due Diligence
Maria-Susanna Schumacher, Due Diligence

For further information, please contact :
CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre
Florence Jouffroy / Tel: +33 1 47 38 40 32
Laetitia Mostowski / Tel: +33 1 47 38 40 74