The hypermarket chain Mein Real said it filed an application to open insolvency proceedings under self-administration on Friday.
According to a statement from Real GmbH, more than 5,000 employees in 62 stores and the headquarters in Mönchengladbach are affected. Wages and salaries should continue to be paid. The insolvency proceedings under self-administration will make it possible to maintain business operations and at the same time hold negotiations with competitors about the possible takeover of locations, it said. The company did not disclose which bankruptcy court the application was filed with.
According to the information, the restructuring should preserve as many jobs as possible. The company emphasized that self-administration insolvency is only open to those companies “that are facing economic challenges but can present a viable business plan.” “WirtschaftsWoche” had previously reported on the bankruptcy filing.
The chain is owned by the financial investor SCP. He initially sold the company in June 2022, but bought it back in May 2023 in view of the “critical economic situation”. “Despite extensive operational improvements, previously misguided operational management decisions could not be corrected quickly enough,” explained Real CEO Bojan Luncer. In this context, he spoke of a “challenging macroeconomic environment”. The application for self-administration insolvency proceedings offers a new opportunity to continue business operations, he emphasized.
SCP acquired the Real chain (slogan: “Once there. Everything included.”) with its 276 stores from the Metro trading group in 2020 in order to break it up and resell it. Kaufland, Edeka, Globus and Rewe secured a large number of the most attractive branches. The company with the remaining 62 locations then went to the family office of the Drs. Tischendorf entrepreneurial family in the summer of 2022 before it was reacquired by SCP in May. (dpa)