The department stores in Germany are continuing to operate, the company said on Monday, according to German news agencies. Insolvency proceedings under self-administration were applied for. The trading company emphasized that the rents at the three locations in Germany are putting a strain on business. They made “sustainable, profitable economic activity almost impossible,” it was said.
According to a report in the “Handelsblatt” from December, which the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (“SZ”) quoted on Monday, the annual rent in the Oberpollinger in Munich amounts to 20 percent of sales, in the Alsterhaus in Hamburg it is 17 percent and in the KaDeWe in Berlin to 13 percent. Rents of up to twelve percent are common on the market, according to the “SZ”.
APA/AFP/Tobias Schwarz The famous KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens) in Berlin, which gave the whole group its name
According to Monday’s announcement, the KaDeWe Group generated sales of almost 728 million euros in the 2022/2023 financial year – an increase of almost 24 percent compared to the pre-CoV financial year 2018/2019. According to its own information, the group employs around 1,700 people.
50.1 percent in Thai hands
Companies that have good prospects of continuing business operations usually apply for insolvency under self-administration rather than with the help of an insolvency administrator. It is a variant of insolvency law that aims to restructure a company instead of winding it up.
Graphics: APA/ORF; Source: Company
50.1 percent of the KaDeWe Group belongs to the Central Group of the Thai family Chirathivat and 49.9 percent to Signa Retail, which also owns Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof. Signa Retail announced at the end of November that it would wind up its business in an orderly manner. Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof filed for insolvency proceedings three weeks ago.
Spar board interested in Lamarr
The future of the Lamarr department store in Vienna is also in jeopardy. The Vienna project company has not yet filed for bankruptcy. An official construction stop has not yet been announced; the opening was scheduled for the beginning of 2025.
There has been no significant activity at the Lamarr construction site since November. Several weeks ago, the district leader of Wien-Neubau, Markus Reiter (Greens), called on the city of Vienna to take action so that the Lamarr did not degenerate into a ruin. Shortly afterwards, the city of Vienna said that the building was expected to be completed – more on this in wien.ORF.at.
APA/K18 This is what the Lamarr in Vienna should look like when it is ever finished
“Vienna Today” quoted industry experts on Monday evening who did not want their names given, saying that “a lot of time will pass before construction work resumes and a buyer is found.” Possible investors could wait in order to get in cheaper, the longer the construction site is idle unless the Central Group quickly steps into the breach.
Liens have consequences for buyers
There is also a lien on the property totaling 390 million euros. This lies with Bank Austria (295 million euros) and Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich (95 million euros). “If the property on which the Lamarr department store is to be built is subject to a lien, this of course means that a buyer has to deal with the lien – because a purchase price first serves to cover the liabilities secured by the land register,” says AKV- Expert Cornelia Wesenauer in “Vienna Today”.
Planned Lamarr department store affected
Not entirely unexpectedly, there was another major bankruptcy in Rene Benko’s severely ailing Signa Group today: the German trading company KaDeWe Group has filed for bankruptcy. This also applies to the planned Lamarr department store in Vienna.
A buyer must pay off existing debts. The report also speculated as to whether, instead of a large department store in practically the entire building, after the new bankruptcy in the Benko company structure, shops might now only be able to move into the lower floors, with apartments and offices above. According to experts, there are already enough luxury shops in Vienna’s city center around the Kohlmarkt.
There is already someone 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 Rene Benko, but we didn’t get the chance,” said Reisch. “That would still be an asset we would be interested in. But nothing is concrete.”
IMAGO/Eckhard Stengel The Alsterhaus in Hamburg also belongs to the KaDeWe group
Signa Holding creditors want 8.6 billion
Meanwhile, the creditors of the insolvent Signa Holding reported claims totaling a good 8.6 billion euros. The insolvency administrator of the umbrella company of the troubled real estate empire announced this on Monday. Creditors’ claims have increased by more than 70 percent since November.
debate
What consequences will the Signa bankruptcy have?
In Signa Holding’s insolvency application, which was submitted to the Vienna Commercial Court in November, Signa Holding’s total liabilities were still valued at five billion euros, but now a good 8.6 billion have been registered. According to the court-appointed insolvency administrator Christof Stapf, only claims of around 80.3 million euros – a fraction of that – have so far been recognized, the rest, well over 8.5 billion, is not recognized.
Many claims were submitted to the court without the necessary documents or too late. A total of 302 creditors have filed claims. The insolvency administrator assumes that the claims will probably not be able to withstand this extent.
How the demands are divided according to Stapf
According to the insolvency administrator, around 5.1 billion euros alone would be attributable to liability claims (largely from guarantees and letters of comfort) and 1.6 billion euros to intra-group payments, such as loans. Claims within the group were completely disputed, it said.
The trade payables are comparatively manageable at around 1.5 million euros, as are the public tax claims of around 940,000 euros and rent claims of around 260,000 euros.
“It will be up to the creditors to provide the documents necessary for the proper processing of the claim registrations via the insolvency court,” said Stapf. Disputed claims could be asserted through a lawsuit in bankruptcy court. The creditors were given a period of two months to do this. The insolvency administrator will continue to examine the claims during this time.
No self-administration bankruptcy
Last week it became known that Signa Holding was giving up self-administration in the restructuring process and that the restructuring manager was taking over the helm. A reduction in the insolvency rate has not yet been requested. Creditors are offered a quota of at least 30 percent within two years. The vote on the restructuring plan is scheduled for the end of April.
In addition, the insolvency administrator announced that discussions about the sale of Signa’s stake in New York’s Chrysler Building and to media are still ongoing. In addition, two arbitration claims from Mubadala from the United Arab Emirates and AM1 from Qatar are still pending, it said. According to the insolvency administrator, this involves payments of 713 million euros or 296 million euros. Signa Holding had applied for the interruption of both proceedings due to the insolvency.