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ESSEN/BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – The insolvency of Austrian billionaire René Benko’s Signa Holding is leaving its mark on German retail. On Thursday, the sporting goods retailer SportScheck, which is part of the corporate network, announced that it would file for bankruptcy. The employees of the Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof department store chain have had to expect the sale of their company since Wednesday evening. It had previously become known that the Swiss subsidiary of the insolvent Signa Group, Signa Retail Selection AG, wanted to apply to the court for a debt moratorium. The business should be carried out in an orderly manner, as the company announced in Zurich. The German Galeria, headquartered in Essen, also reports to her.
From the perspective of retail experts, the department store chain has little chance of survival. “The prospects are bleak. From a business perspective it makes no sense,” said Gerrit Heinemann from the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences to the German Press Agency, regarding the question of the prospects of success in the event of a sale. The head of the BBE trading consultancy, Johannes Berentzen, expects a difficult search for investors. “At a time of low interest rates, entry into the German market might have been interesting for international investors or even trading groups. In today’s market and interest rate situation, there is little chance of finding a buyer.”
The turbulent Signa Holding GmbH of the real estate and trading entrepreneur Benko announced insolvency proceedings on Wednesday. According to its own information, the holding company applied to the Vienna Commercial Court to open self-administered restructuring proceedings. Signa consists of a complex network of companies with hundreds of individual companies.
SportScheck announced on Thursday that it was insolvent after the holding company filed for bankruptcy. The company, which has 34 branches nationwide and an annual turnover of around 350 million euros, announced that it wanted to file for insolvency. The takeover of SportScheck by the British fashion retailer Frasers Group, which was announced in the autumn, “will not be completed for the time being; however, Frasers is sticking to its takeover plans,” the company said.
All branches, customer service and the online shop continued to operate as normal. Managing director Matthias Rucker said that the bankruptcy was bitter, but also an opportunity to sustainably strengthen the company with its contractual partners and creditors.
The German Trade Association (HDE) is concerned about the developments surrounding the Signa insolvency and its possible impact on Galeria. “Department and department stores are central points of contact in the city centers in many places. Many customers come to the city centers because of them. As a result, neighboring shops and companies in other sectors also benefit from this,” said HDE Managing Director Stefan Genth. The department store format still has its place in the retail landscape.
After the Signa insolvency, the German Association of Cities called for possible affected cities to be involved. “If the insolvency of Signa Holding has an impact on Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof locations, the affected cities must be actively included in the discussions between creditors and owners, shareholders and insolvency administrators,” said the general manager of the city council, Helmut Dedy, to the Funke newspapers. Group. In addition, Dedy called for cities to have options to secure buildings affected in the event of bankruptcies. “In the future, insolvency law should be changed so that cities potentially have access to central properties in the event of insolvencies.”/lnt/DP/ngu