TIGGES successfully defends home care provider PROMEDICA against former cooperation partners

The largest European home care provider PROMEDICA, based in Warsaw (PROMEDICA PLUS Franchise GmbH as well as Promedica Care Sp. z o.o.), has successfully asserted itself in several court proceedings against former franchise and cooperation partners who doubted the legality of the contractual arrangement of the franchise and cooperation agreements. TIGGES provided legal support to Promedica Care Sp. z o.o. and successfully defended it in all court instances. The Higher Regional Court of Hamm has dismissed the corresponding claims in their entirety. For the company, this is a confirmation that the design of the franchise system and the contracts comply with the legal requirements and thus a strengthening of the franchise system and the existing relationships with the franchisees.

Background of the proceedings

The PROMEDICA Group operates in Germany on the basis of its own franchise and cooperation system, whereby the respective contracts are concluded with cooperation partners on the one hand and various PROMEDICA companies on the other. The subject matter of the dispute was, inter alia, the legality of the chosen structure, the system of a franchise system and a cooperation system side by side and whether this did not constitute an artificial splitting of the contractual relationships. Another important point was the prerequisites for an international choice of jurisdiction according to the Brussels Convention. The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Hamm confirmed the first-instance judgments of the Regional Court of Essen in the judgments pronounced on 8 July 2021 (I-2 U 60/20; I-2 U 94/20) and dismissed the appeals of the former cooperation partners. In this respect, it was found that the contractual arrangement of the franchise and cooperation agreements was lawful, that there was no inadmissible splitting of the contractual relationships and that the contractual relationships and the allocations of the parties were clearly and unambiguously regulated.

TIGGES regularly advises companies in the care sector from CEE and in particular Poland on questions arising in German law. Furthermore, in addition to its own expertise in the healthcare sector, the firm's advisory portfolio also includes advice on national and international franchise systems.

Advisor TIGGES Rechtsanwälte 

• Dr. Dominik Wagner, LL.M. (Partner, Corporate, Commercial / M&A, Polish Desk)