The Essen Local Court decided on July 29 to close the Galeria insolvency proceedings with effect from July 31, 2024. The insolvency proceedings of the German department store chain (formerly Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof) have thus been successfully concluded after almost seven months with the implementation of the insolvency plan. The family office of Bernd Beetz and NRDC Equity Partners, a New York-based investment company, form the new consortium of owners. Together with the management, the new shareholders are determined to continue the restructuring process.
From Aug. 1, 2024, the company will once again have sole responsibility and employ around 12,000 people in 83 Galeria department stores across Germany. Next year, the Service Center, in which the key corporate functions are bundled, will move from Essen to Düsseldorf as planned.
“Within seven months, we succeeded in finding new shareholders for Galeria, confirming their entry on the basis of the insolvency plan by the creditors’ meeting and concluding the insolvency proceedings,” explained insolvency administrator Stefan Denkhaus, partner at BRL. “I have experienced a great, motivated team and would like to thank the entire team for their commitment during this difficult time. Together, we have successfully reduced the cost structure to an appropriate level in many areas. As a medium-sized company, Galeria is now in a good economic position and is starting the future with available liquidity in the nine-digit range. New governments or ministers are usually given a grace period of 100 days. I wish Galeria would get the same with the new owners. Ideally 300 days to implement the future concept step by step.”
NRDC Equity Partners wants to start a new corporate culture in close cooperation with the management and staff. “Together, we are tackling the implementation of the agreed concepts with the aim of making our stores more attractive, rewarding performance more strongly and increasing customer satisfaction,” says Beetz from NRDC. “We are thus building a new, self-confident Galeria, whose 83 locations in city centers are an important and reliable anchor tenant as well as a frequency generator for surrounding specialist stores and restaurateurs.”
Galeria will now concentrate on its core competence as a department store with strong product ranges. The already successful local focus will be further expanded and complemented by strong partnerships in order to optimally and competently meet the needs of local customers. According to Galeria CEO Olivier Van den Bossche, there will also be store modernizations in order to offer an attractive shopping atmosphere and an ideal shopping experience.
