Company court judges in Amsterdam have ruled that Sunweb does not have to yet press ahead with its now-cancelled takeover of Dutch tour operator Corendon.

The Sunweb travel group said last month it was pulling out of the deal, a decision which the Dutch firm said it would challenge in court.

Ruling against Corendon’s call for the takeover to go ahead straight away, the court said that a full hearing may well determine that that the Dutch firm had met all its obligations.  However, the impact of the takeover would be far-reaching and possibly irreversible, hence the need for caution, the court said.

The court said the two firms should now try to adapt the deal to the new situation, something which Corendon said it is now willing to do.

Competition

The takeover of Corendon by Swedish investment house Triton via the Sunweb holiday group was announced in June 2019, before the start of the coronavirus pandemic. It was cleared by the Dutch competition authority in October.

The agreement consisted of the Corendon tour operating activities in the Netherlands and Belgium, the back-office operations in Turkey and Corendon Dutch Airlines. It also includes Corendon´s brands Karin’s Choice, Maris Life, Stip, and GOfun.

The Turkish and European airline and the hotels owned by Corendon Hotels & Resorts were not part of the transaction and financial details were not disclosed.

Corendon was launched as a specialist in holidays to Turkey in 2000 and now provides summer and winter breaks for some 750,000 people a year. The company booked turnover of €515m in 2018