Oppenhoff & Partner advises Nova Tempora on the acquisition of DUGENA out of the insolvency of the EganaGoldpfeil Group

Press Release 30 July 2009

The newly-founded Nova Tempora Uhren und Schmuck GmbH has acquired from the insolvent EganaGoldpfeil Group the watch brand Dugena and the firm Zeitmeßtechnik GmbH, which offers brands such as Esprit, Cerruti und Joop! The purchase price was tacitly agreed upon.

The Sellers are two insolvent companies of the EganaGoldpfeil Group, the EganaGoldpfeil Europe (Holding) GmbH (Insolvency Administrator: Ottmar Hermann) and the EganaGoldpfeil Deutschland GmbH (Insolvency Administrator: Jochen Humbeck). The German business of the EganaGoldpfeil Group comprises, inter alia, also the watch manufacturer Junghans which was taken over by the family-owned business Steim in the beginning of 2009 and the traditional Salamander shoe brand which is now owned by the Ara Group.

Heinz W. Pfeifer and Jürgen Holzschuh are part of the shareholder group which stands behind Nova Tempora. Both were previously members of the Board of Directors of the EganaGoldpfeil’s Parent company and were part of the management of the European Egana companies.

A team of lawyers, led by the Partner Dr. Günter Seulen, advised Nova Tempora with this combined share and asset deal with MBO aspects. Additional team members were Dr. Harald Gesell, Jens Vogels, Dr. Falk Osterloh (corporate law / M&A), Dr. Christoph Poertzgen (insolvency law), Peter Hützen (employment law), Eckart Wagner, Daniel Dohrn (antitrust law) and Georg Lecheler (intellectual property law).

Oppenhoff & Partner, an independent law firm located in Cologne, views itself as a leading legal advisor for enterprises and entrepreneurs which offers broad consultation services in the areas of economic and tax law. Moreover, there are more than 55 lawyers whose main focus of activity is on advising national and foreign large-scale enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises in the regional, national and international areas. Only recently has Oppenhoff & Partner advised M. DuMont Schauberg on an acquisition of Berliner Zeitung and Telekom on the consequences relating to the data affair scandal.