The investor process has been initiated at the insolvent department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof.
Galeria has now received the approval of the provisional insolvency administrator Stefan Denkhaus from the business law firm BRL and the provisional creditors’ committee, the Essen-based retailer announced on Wednesday. For this purpose, “experienced investment banks” were brought in.
“First and foremost, we address potential investors who have an operational interest in Galeria,” said Denkhaus. “Our goal is to find a sustainable solution for the department stores that enables in-depth planning.”
The company hopes to have “indicative offers” with detailed business concepts by February 11th, which will then be examined and evaluated. Binding offers should then be submitted by March 8th.
Germany’s last large department store group filed for insolvency with the responsible district court in Essen at the beginning of January, after numerous companies of the parent company Signa, which was also insolvent, had to take this step.
Galeria had already been in discussions with possible investors for a short time. The media also reported on the interest of the US cosmetics group Coty and entrepreneurs from its environment who want to take over Galeria locations. Denkhaus did not want to confirm this at this time and pointed out that there would be more than two interested parties.