According to the SPD economic expert Alexander Bartz, the Galeria department stores can only be saved with new rental agreements for the 92 branches. The Austrian investor René Benko “milked Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof like a cow to finance daring real estate speculation and demanded rents that were significantly too high,” Bartz told the newspaper “Bild am Sonntag”.
Galeria filed for insolvency at the Essen district court on January 9th. It is the third bankruptcy within three and a half years. The company is looking for a new owner. According to Galeria boss Olivier van den Bossche, the goal is to preserve the company as a whole.
For SPD Bundestag member Bartz, it is clear that no new owner will take over the existing rental agreements. “In some branches, rents account for up to 25 percent of sales, whereas 10 to 15 percent is typical in the industry.” Bartz appealed to the insolvency administrator of the Signa real estate division to “enter into negotiations about new rental agreements and thus a new start for Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof outside of René Benko’s opaque corporate network”.
A few days ago, Galeria’s provisional insolvency administrator, Stefan Denkhaus, commented on the possible takeover of branches: “There are more than two interested parties. We can’t say anything more about this at this point in time.” (dpa)