It has already begun, now it is certain: The KaDeWe Group has filed for bankruptcy. This includes not only the eponymous department store in Berlin, but also the luxury department stores Oberpollinger in Munich and the Alsterhaus in Hamburg. It was said that operations should continue despite the bankruptcy.
The aim is to initiate insolvency proceedings under self-administration. The trading company emphasized that the rents at the three department store locations in particular were putting a strain on business. As a reminder: Signa is also the landlord in this case.
Guido Radig
You can also find fillets from Benko’s real estate portfolio in Munich’s pedestrian zone: the luxury department store “Oberpollinger”, which also belongs to the KaDeWe group.
The excessive rents would be a make “sustainable, profitable economic activity almost impossible”.it said in a release.
Trading division continues to disintegrate
After the Galeria department store chain’s third bankruptcy since 2020, Signa’s retail division continues to crumble. The online sports retail offshoot Signa Sports United (SSU) went bankrupt in the fall. The Swiss department store chain Globus is also insolvent. Signa has a 50 percent stake there.
Also the one under construction Lamarr department store in Vienna belongs to this chain. The KaDeWe Group is 50.01 percent owned by the Thai Central Group and 49.99 percent part of the Signa Group of Investors René Benko.
APA/dpa/Marcus Brandt
The Alsterhaus on Jungfernsteig in Hamburg is one of Benko’s department store properties in the best locations in German city centers.
Bankruptcy an opportunity?
The bankruptcy could be an opportunity for the KaDeWe Group. According to the economic figures, business is basically going well. Bankruptcy could now apply to the Thai Central Group be an opportunity to get out of overpriced rental contracts.
“Operationally, we are doing an outstanding job. All hotels are recording increasing sales even in difficult economic times,” KaDeWe boss Michael Peterseim is quoted as saying in a statement.
“The index rents, however, are disproportionately high, they are not in line with the market – and are set to continue to rise.”, it continues. Numerous conversations with the landlord – René Benko – wouldn’t have changed anything.
You can read here why Benko may have “increased” the rental prices so much.
What’s next for Lamarr?
It is unclear what will happen to the Lamarr department store on Mariahilfer Straße in Vienna. Hardly anything is progressing on the construction site. But the Central Group is already half involved in this project too.
An official construction stop has not yet been announced, but the opening planned for the beginning of 2025 is becoming more and more distant.
WHAT/FOHRINGER’S HELMUT
Millions of liens from banks in the land register
One thing is certain: the owner of the land on which construction is currently taking place is: Mariahilfer Straße 10-18 Immobilien GmbH registered. Although this project company has not yet filed for bankruptcy, this will probably be closer.
In addition, there are two liens in the land register. One from 2018 from Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich in the amount of 95 million euros and another from UniCredit Bank Austria from 2022 in the amount of 295 million euros.
Will Spar buy the Lamarr?
To prevent this case, a new buyer could have been found. There is already at least one person interested in the Lamarr. Spar CEO Hans Reisch was interested in an interview with the “Salzburger Nachrichten” at the weekend.
“We tried very hard to get the Hedy Lamarr – the Leiner on Mariahilfer Strasse back then – before we sold it to René Benko, but we didn’t get the chance,” said Reisch. “That would still be an asset that we would be interested in. But nothing is concrete.”
When asked by PULS 24, a Spar company spokeswoman specified: “The former Leiner area is generally an interesting location in Vienna. For us too. But there is currently no contact or discussions and no concrete plans.”