In an interview about the the insolvency of parent company Thomas Cook and a possible €380-million state loan to support its Condor Airlines division, our antitrust/competition law partner Sebastian Jungermann explains how the rescue loan can still fail— the taxpayers' money has not yet flowed —and why the search for investors is likely to become a balancing act.
Jungermann says that the type of bridge loan the state is considering, which must also be approved by the EU Commission, is a form of state aid that can distort competition. Since state aid may only be granted if the companies concerned have exhausted all other possibilities available on the market, Germany must demonstrate to the Commission that Condor is in difficulty, in need of assistance and that it can limit possible distortions of competition. If the rescue aid were to be approved, Jungermann notes that a complete takeover by Lufthansa, which had already shown interest in Condor in the past, could certainly be approved, provided that the combination will not lead to a dominant position on certain routes.
» Read the full article (available only in German).
