Freshfields advises Barclays on the sale of its German consumer finance business

Global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (‘Freshfields’) has advised Barclays Bank Ireland PLC (‘Barclays’) on the agreed sale of certain assets and liabilities, which together comprise its German consumer finance business (‘Consumer Bank Europe’). Purchaser is BAWAG P.S.K., a wholly-owned subsidiary of BAWAG Group AG.

Consumer Bank Europe is a diversified retail banking business, with established credit card, consumer loan and deposit franchises serving customers in the German and Austrian markets. As at 31 March 2024, Consumer Bank Europe had gross assets of €4.7bn, primarily comprising card and loan receivables.

Completion of the sale, which is subject to certain conditions, including regulatory approvals and the sanction of the relevant courts, is expected to occur within six to nine months.

The Freshfields team was led by Partner Patrick Cichy (Corporate/M&A, Hamburg), Partner Claire Wills, Partner Andy Robinson (both Corporate/M&A, London), Principal Associate Jan Biermann (Corporate/M&A, Frankfurt) and Principal Associate Marius Raetz (Financial Regulatory/M&A, Frankfurt) and further included:

• Partners: Alexander Schwahn (Tax, Hamburg), Philipp Dohnke (IP/IT, Hamburg), Janina Heinz, Alexander Glos (both Financial Regulatory, Frankfurt), Boris Dzida (Employment Law, Hamburg), Robin Helmke (Corporate/Capital Markets, Frankfurt), Florian Klimscha (Financial Regulatory, Vienna)
• Counsel: Marius Scherb (IP/IT, Hamburg), Michal Dobrowolski (Corporate/M&A, Vienna)
• Principal Associates: Tobias Franz (Tax, Hamburg), Cosmas Weigel (Corporate/M&A, Hamburg), Judith Römer (Employment Law, Hamburg), Eva Schneider (Financial Regulatory, Vienna)
• Associates: Aleksandar Atanasov, Valentin Müller, Martin Hadler, Bruno Gebhardi, Daniel Extra (all Corporate/M&A, Hamburg), Jan Kothe (Tax, Hamburg), Hans-Ulrich Kloeppel (Financial Regulatory/Frankfurt), Bernardo Mora, Judith Bremer (both Corporate/Capital Markets, Frankfurt), Mattias Köck, Angelika Holzer (both Corporate/M&A, Vienna), Jonas Levermann (Antitrust, Brussels)