The Thai Chirathivat family already owned the KaDeWe building in Berlin, as well as half of the department store business. Now their Central Group is also taking over the remaining shares.
The business operations of the three German luxury department stores KaDeWe, Oberpollinger and Alsterhaus will in future be owned entirely by the Thai Central Group. A corresponding contract has been signed, the company announced today. A purchase price was not disclosed. “By signing this negotiation result, we have taken another important step in the overall restructuring process,” said Josef Schultheis, Chief Restructuring Officer of the KaDeWe Group.
According to the information, the contract is still subject to, among other things, an antitrust review. In addition, talks are now underway with the landlords of the buildings in Munich, where Oberpollinger is located, and in Hamburg (Alsterhaus) about the rental conditions. The Central Group had already taken over the KaDeWe building in Berlin in April for one billion euros.
One of the richest families in Thailand
Even before the now sealed complete takeover of the operational business, the Thai company held 50.1 percent of the KaDeWe Group. 49.9 percent belonged to the collapsed Signa group of companies owned by Austrian investor René Benko. In January, the group filed for bankruptcy. However, business operations in the department stores have continued since then.
The Central Group is a conglomerate owned by the Chirathivat family, one of the richest families in Thailand. The US magazine Forbes estimated their fortune at $12.4 billion in 2023. The Bangkok-based group operates supermarkets, department store chains, hotels and restaurants. In Europe, the company also has interests in the department stores of La Rinascente in Italy, Selfridges in Great Britain and Globus in Switzerland, among others. The Central Group also owns the Illum department store in Copenhagen.