2024-01-09 19:43:07
Essen (ots) – Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof is successful in the market with its over 15,000 employees and closed the first quarter of the 2023/24 financial year above the same quarter of the previous year. However, the Signa Group’s numerous bankruptcies are causing massive damage to Galeria, hindering ongoing business and severely restricting future development opportunities due to high rents and expensive services.
The branches and the online business will be continued in full. The management team and the provisional insolvency administrator want to pursue the restructuring path together. In the future, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof will stand for innovative retail in German city centers and will be there for its customers locally
In order to free itself from this situation and secure a successful future for Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, the company filed for insolvency with the Essen District Court on January 9, 2024. Stefan Denkhaus was appointed as the provisional insolvency administrator.
The Galeria management with CEO Olivier Van den Bossche as well as CFO and labor director Guido Mager will actively support the process together with the provisional insolvency administrator. The key top performers from Galeria’s management team have declared that they will continue to follow the common path.
The Galeria management is continuing the successful strategy of strong local focus, which has proven particularly effective in recent months. The aim is to continue Galeria. With the exemption from the framework conditions set by Signa, Galeria is aiming for a change of ownership. Discussions with potential investors have already begun. Initial discussions have shown that Galeria’s department store business in German city centers and shopping metropolises is highly attractive following such a liberation.
Stefan Denkhaus, Galeria’s provisional insolvency administrator, explains: “Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, under the leadership of Olivier van den Bossche and Guido Mager, thought intensively regarding the type of procedure and decided on a standard procedure. I think that this decision was wise to document the liberation. The management has already achieved a lot and will therefore lead the restructuring process with me as a team. I am building on this trust, even though I have naturally only known both of them for a short time. The Signa Group’s insolvencies have the positive development of Galeria is counteracting and threatening the company. The management therefore had no other option than to free the company from this grip through insolvency. We will work together with all our might to continue on the path we have started under better conditions and to establish Galeria as a company received. Breaking up is expressly not the aim of the proceedings.”
CEO Olivier Van den Bossche says: “Galeria’s operational success is burdened by the framework conditions of the old ownership structure. We explicitly see today as a liberation. What counts now is what brings Galeria forward. We have to reduce the Signa rents, expensive service providers, the service center in Essen and consistently get the efficiency of our logistics on track. Our branches and sales team are already functioning well and we have also brought our online business to profitability. Now our goals are a change of ownership and a solution from the grip.”
For the cities, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof is an extremely important anchor retailer in the centers: Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof is essential for supplying people in the cities and the surrounding specialist shops and restaurants need their large neighbor to bring traffic to the city center. In the future, Galeria will stand for innovative retail and be there for its customers locally.
Questions & Contact:
Corporate communications
presse@galeria.de
02017272030
1704829666
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