Zoom Image
Kaufhof branch in Chemnitz (archive image)
Photo: Hendrik Schmidt / dpa
For the department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, the insolvency proceedings will end at the end of Wednesday (31 May). This is the result of a decision by the Essen District Court. The proceedings will be lifted after the confirmation of the insolvency plan has become final, it says. Previously, the magazine »Wirtschaftswoche« had reported on it.
At the end of last year, Germany's last major department store group had to seek rescue again in protective shield proceedings and is in a restructuring process. The restructuring plan, which has now become legally binding, provides for the closure of around a third of the 129 branches that were still in operation.
Battle for branches continues
The company's creditors also waive a large part of the money that the department store group still owes them. According to earlier information, suppliers, landlords and other creditors will have to forego a total of more than 1.3 billion euros. Despite the high financial losses, there was little choice but to approve the plan at a meeting at a meeting at the end of March. If the insolvency plan had been rejected, they would probably not have seen any of their money at all.
"The restructuring plan and thus the concept of the department store of the future give Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof the best chances for a return to the road to success," said Chief Representative Arndt Geiwitz as chief renovator at the meeting at the end of March.
Meanwhile, the battle for the survival of as many sites as possible continues. Most recently, it became known that the branches in Regensburg at Neupfarrplatz, Dortmund and Bremen could be continued after all. The reason for this was agreements with the landlords of the properties used by the department stores. Most recently, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof had around 17,000 employees.
beb/dpa