Galeria sale to be completed in April
Published: Thursday, Feb 1st 2024, 13:40
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The sale of the insolvent German department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof should be completed within the next two to three months. "Our aim is to have the contracts signed by April at the latest," the provisional insolvency administrator, Stefan Denkhaus, told the "Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung" newspaper on Thursday.
The company, which is currently still part of the Signa Group led by Austrian investor Rene Benko, which is also insolvent, had already announced the timetable for the search for a new owner on Wednesday. Interested parties have until February 11 to register their interest without obligation. The deadline for binding offers is March 8. The opening of insolvency proceedings is scheduled for the beginning of April.
In the interview, Denkhaus reiterated the goal of preserving Galeria as a whole. "If potential investors are interested in individual locations or packages of several stores, we will take note of this. However, we prefer to talk first with potential buyers who want to continue the company as a whole."
According to Denkhaus, there has already been initial feedback from potential investors. He did not specify the exact number. "There are many. That makes me optimistic," he said. According to the provisional insolvency administrator, the company is fully financed until late summer. Galeria filed for insolvency at the local court in Essen, Germany, at the beginning of January. It is the third insolvency in three and a half years.
The Signa bankruptcy was also the focus of public interest in Switzerland on Thursday. The CEO of private bank Julius Baer, Philipp Rickenbacher, had to resign as a result. He bore the consequences of his bank's high level of lending to the troubled real estate group.
©Keystone/SDA
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