Business magazine reports
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KaDeWe Group is preparing to file for insolvency – Giffey is confident about the future
According to a media report, KaDeWe is threatened with insolvency – it belongs to the ailing Signa Group. Senator for Economic Affairs Giffey was nevertheless optimistic that KaDeWe can be maintained despite the difficult situation.
The KaDeWe in Berlin is apparently in financial difficulties. Like that Business magazine “Capital” reported on Saturday, a bankruptcy filing is being prepared.
As a result, the insolvency application for the KaDeWe Group could be filed in Berlin in the next few days; This also applies to the luxury department stores Alsterhaus in Hamburg and Oberpollinger in Munich.
On Sundays, which were open for shopping in the rest of Berlin, the KaDeWe remained closed. Berliners and tourists who enjoyed shopping stood in front of closed doors. It is not clear whether there is a connection to the reports. On Saturday, KaDeWe had already left inquiries open as to whether it would take part in the shopping Sunday on the occasion of Green Week.
Senator for Economic Affairs Giffey is confident about the future
It is also not yet possible to predict what impact the possible insolvency application will have. Berlin’s Senator for Economic Affairs Franziska Giffey (SPD) was optimistic for the time being. “It’s very clear to us: The KaDeWe is a department store icon. It is the most famous department store in Germany. It is an absolute flagship and also a landmark of our city,” she told rbb on the sidelines SPD parliamentary group meeting in Leipzig.
The senator referred to ongoing discussions at various levels, which, however, are confidential. “It’s of course about the rental conditions, it’s about the question of shareholder ownership,” said Giffey. It is known that the Thai Central Group already holds around 50 percent of KaDeWe “and that there might also be a willingness to get in with more.” According to Giffey, the Central Group values the KaDeWe as a “special location”.
The Senate will get involved wherever possible. Everything will be done to “ensure the preservation of the KaDeWe and to exploit the possibilities for this.” The Senator for Economic Affairs also referred to the 100-year, eventful history of the luxury department store: “During this time, the parent company has changed seven times.”
Trade association has little concern about jobs
The employees who came out of the building on Sunday did not want to speak openly to rbb. Some seemed to have only found out about the impending bankruptcy filing through the media.
The managing director of the Berlin-Brandenburg trade association, Nils Busch-Petersen, does not initially see any acute threat to jobs. “If I were employed in retail in Berlin, this would certainly be one of the jobs I would be least worried about,” Busch-Petersen told rbb.
The trade association does not see the reason for the impending bankruptcy filing in KaDeWe’s possible red numbers. On the contrary: According to the industry association, the department store is doing above average. You may just want to use a bankruptcy filing to reposition yourself.
Berlin task force could get involved
KaDeWe is part of a premium group in the Signa empire of the insolvent Austrian investor René Benko. For them too Insolvency proceedings are underway for the Galeria Kaufhof department stores belonging to the group. A task force has therefore been set up in the Berlin economic administration to try to secure the locations and jobs. If necessary, this task force could also intervene in the case of KaDeWe.
However, the Thai group Central Group owns 49.9 percent of the luxury department stores. According to the report, it is conceivable that the Thais want to take over the Signa shares cheaply in the course of the bankruptcy.
Broadcast: rbb24 Inforadio, January 28, 2024, 6 a.m