[ad_1]
Discussions on the merger of the two giants of department stores Kaufhof and Karstadt are apparently progressing well. An agreement between the owners of the two department store chains, the North American Hudson 's Bay Company and the Austrian boss of Karstadt' s owner, René Benko, was established by mid – August at the latest. Monday in Reuters
. belongs to the Tyrolean real estate investor Benko since 2014. Currently, both parties were still discussing valuation issues with a view to real estate department stores, he said. A spokesman for HBC did not comment on the information and referred to previous group statements. HBC had confirmed the talks with Signa in early July. A spokesman for Signa was not to reach.
51% for Signa
HBC and the Austrian owner of Karstadt, Benko, had already agreed in early July on the key points of a merger, according to insiders. But the last details have yet to be clarified. Karstadt, Karstadt Sport and Kaufhof would be grouped together in a joint venture, several people close to the negotiations said. Benko's holding company, Signa, is expected to acquire just over half of the joint venture's shares and manage the operational business with its trading expert, Karstadt's boss, Stephan Fanderl. The owner of Kaufhof, HBC, expected that the transaction would be estimated at just under a billion euros for Benko's share in the operating activities and in the Real estate, he had said. Kaufhof operates 96 department stores in Germany and 41 department store properties were acquired by HBC as part of a joint venture with investor Simon Property. There are 79 department stores in Karstadt, Germany.
Benko recently joined the furniture trade in Austria. In mid-June, South African retailer Steinhoff sold his daughters Kika and Leiner to Signa as part of an emergency operation.
(APA / Reuters)
Source link
