It has not yet been decided whether there will even be insolvency proceedings for Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof. But at least there are two interested buyers for the floundering department store group.
There are still two prospective buyers in the running for the insolvent department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof. The provisional insolvency administrator Stefan Denkhaus announced that four binding purchase offers had been received. The company now wants to finally negotiate a takeover with two bidders “with experience in German retail”. The deadline for submitting binding offers expired at the weekend.
Denkhaus had recently confirmed that it wanted to complete the sale in April. He must prepare a report by the end of March, which must show that the reasons for filing for insolvency are met and that the costs of the procedure are covered. If this is the case, the responsible local court can open insolvency proceedings. With the opening, creditors can register their claims against the company.
Takeover of “60 plus X” branches?
In the wake of the collapse of the Signa Group, Galeria filed for insolvency at the Essen district court at the beginning of January. It is the third bankruptcy of the last German department store group within three and a half years.
Galeria boss Olivier van Bossche and insolvency administrator Denkhaus want to keep the department store group, which still has around 15,000 employees, fully intact. According to their information, around 60 branches are operating profitably. As a result of the two insolvency proceedings that have already been completed, the number of branches has been reduced by almost half to just over 90. Denkhaus now said that the two interested parties were interested in taking over “60 plus X” branches. It is still unclear which locations can continue to exist and how many jobs may be eliminated.