New owner after Signa bankruptcy
Thais buy KaDeWe
April 12, 2024, 1:33 p.m
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The KaDeWe in Berlin apparently has a new owner: Rene Benko’s insolvent Signa Group has sold the property to the Thai Central Group. The takeover of the luxury department store in the capital could be just the beginning for the investor from Thailand.
The Thai Central Group has bought the property of the luxury department store KaDeWe in Berlin, which belonged to the insolvent Signa Group of the Tyrolean investor Rene Benko. The previous owner and the group had reached an agreement for the complete acquisition, Central said. Central Group could also take over the entire KaDeWe Group, industry insiders said.
According to the “Handelsblatt”, the purchase price of the building of around one billion euros is said to be significantly less than the amount that the previous owner, Signa Prime Selection, had on the books for it. According to “Handelsblatt”, the Central Group concluded an option to purchase half of the property in spring 2023. Signa said at the time that Central had purchased half of the building, but this was not completed, according to the newspaper’s report. Central has now taken over the entire KaDeWe property. According to those involved, the contracts were said to have been signed on Wednesday.
The KaDeWe property belonged to the Signa subsidiary Prime Selection, which owns other high-quality buildings such as the Oberpollinger department store in Munich, the Alsterhaus in Hamburg and the Goldenes Quartier in Vienna. Signa Prime Selection filed for bankruptcy shortly after Christmas.
Signa and Central are long-standing business partners; Since 2015, the Central Group, which is backed by a Thai billionaire family, has held a majority stake of 50.1 percent in the group – but so far not in the property. According to insiders, she is also interested in the remaining Signa shares. Together with Signa, the Central Group also took over the Globus department stores in Switzerland and the British chain Selfridges. Central Group has broad retail experience – it operates numerous shopping centers and markets in Thailand.