Luxury department store: Thai Central Group takes over KaDeWe building

The Berliner’s property Luxury department store KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens) is taken over by the Thai Central Group. The previous owner, the insolvent Signa Prime Selection, has reached an agreement with the Central Group for the complete acquisition, said the Thai investor. Previously this had Handelsblatt reported on the agreement.

The Central Group is also one of the candidates for the complete takeover of the KaDeWe Group, not just the property, but also the actual department store business. So far, Central holds 50.1 percent of it. The rest still belongs to him Austrian businessman René Benko’s insolvent Signa Group.

Central is seeking an exit from insolvency proceedings for KaDeWe

“We are pleased to add KaDeWe Berlin to our portfolio of flagship luxury properties,” said Central Managing Director Tos Chirathivat, according to the company statement. “We will continue to work with everyone involved to find the best possible solution so that our department stores can resume normal operations.”

The group is in discussions with the creditors of the KaDeWe Group and the department store itself and is “confident that, as the new owner of the Berlin property, it will be able to reach agreement on the acquisition of further assets,” Central said. This should help to initiate an “orderly exit from the insolvency proceedings.”

The purchase of the property is “the first important milestone in the renovation and restructuring of the KaDeWe Group into a sustainable, financially viable company,” said the board of Central Group Europe, Vittorio Radice.

High rents burdened KaDeWe and Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof

In addition to the department store on Tauentzienstrasse in Berlin, the KaDeWe group includes the Oberpollinger in Munich and the Alsterhaus in Hamburg. The group had Filed for bankruptcy at the end of January, but business operations continue. The company had the insolvency attributed to “exorbitantly high rents”. As of January, the group employed 1,700 people.

The KaDeWe was opened in 1907. In 1927 the founder Adolf Jandorf sold the department store to the Jewish merchant family Tietz. This was pushed out of the management during the National Socialist era. In 1943, a US plane crashed into the KaDeWe, destroying the building. After reconstruction, the department store became a well-known symbol of consumption and economic growth.

The department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, which until recently also belonged to Signa, is also insolvent. An investor was also found for the chain, it goes to a consortium led by the US investment company NRDC and the German entrepreneur Bernd Beetz. The new owners want to continue operating more than 70 of the 92 branches. The insolvency administrator announced that most of the 12,800 jobs would be preserved. Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof had also complained about high rents.