Before going to the bankruptcy court, Galeria had negotiated further financial aid with the federal government – in addition to the 680 million euros already received. But one came to the conclusion that this was not a viable option, said Müllenbach. “Permanent state loans cannot be the solution here, but a clear cut towards economically viable structures is required.”
During the first corona lockdown in April 2020, the company had already sought rescue in protective shield proceedings. The insolvency proceedings lasted until the end of September.
In the insolvency variant geared towards restructuring, a court-appointed administrator takes over the supervision of the rescue, while the company management retains control but is advised by an external restructuring expert. In the case of Galeria, according to information from the “Wirtschaftswoche”, the Düsseldorf lawyer Frank Kebekus is to take over the provisional administration. The restructuring specialist Arndt Geiwitz should therefore lead the operational restructuring. As early as spring 2020, the two experts were in the same position in the first protective shield proceedings. At that time, around 40 branches were closed, around 4,000 jobs were cut and more than two billion euros in debt were canceled.