Europe

SG Investments, America, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of German-based manufacturer Dürkopp Adler (DA), has acquired ICON Aircraft assets — the result of a chapter 11 § 363 sale in ICON’s chapter 11 case filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, according to a Procopio press release. Procopio Restructuring and Bankruptcy Partner William Smelko represented DA in the transaction with the assistance of Procopio’s Asia Pacific team. Local Delaware Counsel Evan Miller of Saul, Ewing also assisted SG in acquiring the assets.

Sweden’s economy has, in many ways, suffered from the same tribulations as the rest of Europe: recent bouts of crushing inflation and recession, and now the prospect of meager growth in a world split by geopolitical and economic conflict. Nevertheless, the Nordic country has a roster of high-tech entrepreneurs that is the envy of its neighbors, according to a New York Times analysis. Spotify and Skype are globally recognized brand names.

As Sir Keir Starmer seeks to deliver economic growth, the worklessness crisis he inherited from Rishi Sunak is getting markedly worse, The Telegraph reported. Around 9.5m people of working age are neither in work nor looking for work – they are economically inactive, in the parlance of the Office for National Statistics. That is terrible news for the Prime Minister, who will struggle to drive up GDP if so many of the nation’s adults are not even interested in working. The figures also show the causes of another crisis: migration levels.

In a story that reads like the script of a Hollywood film, one of the world’s most famous musicians, Canadian rapper Drake, emerged as the unlikely hero for an Italian club on the brink of financial collapse, World Soccer Talk reported. Venezia, a club steeped in history but battling financial turmoil, found an unexpected lifeline in Drake. His intervention was crucial in saving the club from bankruptcy and ensuring its survival. The Winged Lions, based in the iconic city of Venice, experienced a rollercoaster ride in recent years.

The number of bankruptcies in the Netherlands rose again in July, the NL Times reported. According to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), 24 more companies were declared bankrupt last month than in June, an increase of 6 percent. CBS says the trend in the number of bankruptcies has been rising for more than two years. In the first seven months of 2024, approximately 43 percent more companies went bankrupt than in the same period a year earlier. The number of bankruptcies was also higher than in the three years before the coronavirus pandemic.

The German economy has lost momentum, inevitably leading to the collapse of many businesses, the Daily Wrap reported. According to Deutsche Welle, in July, the number of bankruptcies declared by German companies reached its highest level in a decade. One sector has been particularly hard hit. According to data from the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), the economic slowdown has contributed to an increase in the number of company bankruptcies in Germany, reaching the highest level in about ten years.

Sweden's Oscar Properties avoided bankruptcy on Monday after reaching a settlement over financial claims made by a housing association, a lawyer representing the creditor said, Reuters reported. The creditor, housing association Innovationen, owner of a residential tower in Stockholm that Oscar Properties developed, requested last month that the company be declared bankrupt over unpaid claims of around 15 million crowns ($1.4 million). "We recall the bankruptcy application after the parties reached an agreement," said Patrik Kalman, lawyer for the housing association.

Bharti Global has agreed to buy a major stake in BT Group Plc, a deal that will bolster the Indian company’s international expansion while giving the British carrier more investor stability, Bloomberg reported. Bharti, an affiliate of conglomerate Bharti Enterprises, is buying the 24.5% stake from shareholder Altice UK, part of Patrick Drahi’s troubled telecommunications empire. Drahi has been selling off assets to pay down debt and the BT stake is among his most valuable.