On November 11, it was announced that Willkie client AXA Private Equity has acquired HSE 24, Germany’s first shopping broadcaster, which is part of insolvent Arcandor AG. The sale was approved by the creditor committee overseeing the Arcandor group of companies. With around 500 employees and over 22,000 articles for sale, HSE 24 offers 24-hour programming produced in three studios. AXA Private Equity, an AXA Investment Managers company, is a leading private equity firm with $26 billion in managed assets and a global reach extending across Europe, North America and Asia.

Willkie served as co-counsel with CMS Hasche Sigle for AXA. The Willkie team, led by Mario Schmidt, included Ole Oldenburg, Rolf Hünermann, Dr. Christian Rolf, Dr. Stefan Jörgens, Jan Wilms, Ingo Bednarz, Dr. Octávio de Sousa, Jochen Riechwald, Dr. Matthias Werner and Dr. Michael Rötting, as well as Cédric Hajage and Grégoire Finance from the firm’s Paris office.