International law firm Simmons & Simmons has supported Propex Fabrics in its restructuring in Europe, with complex work undertaken by a cross practice team.
The firm also provided financial and tax advice for the private equity funding by Wayzata Investment Partners.

Propex is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of geotextiles and the patent holder of the so-called CURV technology, which is the best on the market concerning the production of hardside and softside luggage etc. Among the customers of this company that is present in all of the world’s markets are Nike and Samsonite.

International head of dispute resolution, Dr. Hans-Hermann Aldenhoff led the team, which included restructuring the operations in Germany; assisting in establishing a shared service center in Poland and relocating production capacities to Hungary. The support provided to Propex also extended to negotiations concerning reconciliation of interests and social plan conducted with the involvement of the trade union IG Metall. In the meantime, Propex has been able to prevail in all actions against unfair dismissal filed against them. Pension scheme advice was also provided.

The Simmons & Simmons team included: Dr. Hans-Hermann Aldenhoff (employment and procedural law, lead partner, Düsseldorf), Dr. Bernulph von Crailsheim (tax, Frankfurt), Dr. Wolfgang Kotzur (finance, Frankfurt), Sascha Kuhn (compliance/ data protection, Düsseldorf), Marc Urlichs (corporate, Düsseldorf), Alexander Greth (company pension schemes, Düsseldorf), Dr. Steffen-Nguyen-Quang, Lara Unverricht (employment, Düsseldorf), Elmar Weinand (tax, Frankfurt), Pieter van Uechelen and Oscar Hoefnagels (corporate, Amsterdam).