A consortium led by US investor Richard Baker and German businessman Bernd Beetz is set to win its bid to buy the German department store chain Galeria Kaufhof-Karstadt, which had slipped into insolvency for the third time in just over three years.
The German department store chain Galeria Kaufhof-Karstadt will be taken over by a consortium involving US investment company NRDC Equity Partners, owned by investor Richard Baker and German entrepreneur Berndt Beetz.
According to German newspaper Handelsblatt, NRDC and Beetz have been informed that their bid for the famous shopping chain was successful. The deal is yet to be approved, but a final decision must be made in May.
Bankruptcy proceedings for Galeria Kaufhof-Karstadt began in April 2024, after the company slipped into insolvency for the third time in just over three years.
The Kaufhof-Kardstadt chain, previously two competing department stores which were merged in 2019 by its billionaire Austrian owner and investor Rene Benko, has been facing financial difficulties since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
A national institution since the 1800s, in March 2023 Galeria Kaufhof-Karstadt announced that it would close 52 shops in Germany by January 2024.
This time last year the company employed 17.400 retail workers in 129 shops nationwide, as of March 2024, this has been whittled down to 91. Despite the news that Baker and Beetz will take over ownership, it is still likely that the majority of branches will closed, with retail experts speculating that around 20 are likely to remain.
Under the new ownership of NRDC and Beetz, the chain will also continue a rebranding project. Its recognisable green, arched logo will be replaced by a more modern design, which centres a lowercase “g” to look like a flower.
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