The reorganization of the department store chain Karstadt appears with the bid award to Nicolas Berggruen settled, the negotiations are over, the rents continue to apply.
Lutz Getzschmann
Published in: Jungle World, 06/17/2010
http://jungle-world.com/artikel/2010/24/41133.html
On Tuesday of last week's rescue of the Karstadt department store chain has announced. The insolvency manager Klaus Hubert Görg beamed. to "We have a magnifying glass after the substance sought in this company, but we found nothing significant,"new owner of the chain Nicolas Berggruen,: Ten months ago he had a rather bleak picture of the location of the Arcandor Group drawn. a German-American financial investor rather creative blank, it was reported frequently about the origin and mentality in the past few days. He ought to be a dandy, a man driven by a patron in search of a social mission.
Berggruen plans by his own admission, get the department store chain as possible and to secure jobs. A redevelopment concept is to decentralize are to open the store managers greater scope to decide. The needs of regional customers to take more account of the range should be designed accordingly. Berggruen has announced it will invest 240 million euros from its own funds to make the Karstadt stores more attractive. Even the houses are to be glamorous.
Whether such a strategy is, however, is questionable. First, the traditional department store is actually on the way out, shopping centers and department stores division have him run out in many areas of the place. Reinforced this downward trend by Internet shops. Although sales made in the Internet mail order last year, only four percent of total retail sales from, but the growth rates are enormous.
One problem is the tarnished not only for the Karstadt chain, including her rival Kaufhof is struggling with declining sales. In view of this structural crisis of the Saarbrücken economist Joachim Zentes promoted media attention, the merger of Kaufhof and Karstadt "to a" German department store AG. It assumes that there is only a department store in Germany to survive there. Zentes bases his reasoning primarily on their own investigations showing that will forfeit the urban department stores by 2015 from about 40 to 50 percent market share.
Such a merger seems to be now but a distant memory. The attempt to get rid the Metro Group, Kaufhof stores profitably in this way is thus also postponed for now. To allow a merger had to Berggruen also the real estate consortium bid on High Street and eventually pulled the short straw. Without the option of a department store AG could now delay the Metro last forced separation of Kaufhof. Potential buyers such as Blackstone and Permira are likely to re-evaluate their bids once suspected Jürgen Elfers, an analyst at Commerzbank.
Berggruen rather general work commitments and often rumored allegation that he received the main reason the contract because he had demanded as the only potential buyer is not a victim of the employees let him over his rather opaque bidders, the High Street Consortium and the private equity firm Triton look nice. Nevertheless, should the long-term employees are demanded new victims. It is expected that the agreed standards will be further reduced. The pressure to increase the rate of profit is too great and the opportunity to be favorable, for fear for the jobs could make the councils into submission. This is clearly illustrated by the example of the Kaufhof department store group, where in April the Executive Committee of the General Works an "alliance for employment guarantee" offered, which includes, among other things an increase in weekly working time 37.5 to 42 hours - without compensation. Despite a slight decline in sales Kaufhof succeeded in the past financial year to generate increasing profits. The management does try to exploit the situation for the competition, arguing Karstadt went through the reorganization agreement and tax breaks cost advantages, the need Kaufhof as well.
Regardless of such possible consequences for the employees floats but still the threat of the destruction of the chain. As part of the excitement about the new investor could be the salvation of Karstadt be a little has been announced prematurely. The conclusion of the contract of sale with Berggruen is conditional agreement with the real estate consortium High Streets bound - that very consortium against the Berggruen had only last week set by the Takeover Poker. In 2007, the then Arcandor CEO Thomas Middelhoff, 86 sold a total of 120 properties in Karstadt High Street, specifically to suspicious unfavorable conditions for Karstadt. Last year, the deal led to the initiation of an investigation.
pay Under existing contracts must Karstadt this year 268 million euros rent for the houses that are owned by High Street. The landlord is willing to reduce that amount in 2010 to 210 million, Berggruen but calls for further rent reductions. Behind High Street is the U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs, which holds a 51 percent stake in the consortium, other partners are the German and Italian companies Borletti Bank, Generali and Pirelli. The consortium is aware of its key role of course aware of the Karstadt department reorganization and occurs accordingly.
that the rent for Karstadt to the existence question illustrates the attitude of the Essen district court. On Thursday last week, it postponed its decision on the bankruptcy plan at 16 July, on the grounds that they wanted the talks to the Berggruen Karstadt landlord consortium Wait. According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung ties High Street possible concessions to the condition that "Berggruen among employees, at least more flexible and longer hours interspersed." The landlord was not clear what exactly would Berggruen, High Street still widespread in the past week. »High Street is willing to further rent reductions of 230 million euros over the next five years, in addition" to the already in bankruptcy reorganization plan promised contribution of 160 million euros over three years, had a spokesman for the consortium on 8 June said, this offer but also constitutes a threat: "If the current offer for all bidders to Rent reductions is not accepted, the probability of liquidation increases significantly from Karstadt. "
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