Status: 03/27/2023 10:57 am
At a meeting of creditors today, Grupo Galeria’s future will be decided. Management demands waiver of claims in the billions. The ver.di union is waiting for rescue.
The creditors of department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof want to set the course for the struggling traditional company’s future at a meeting in Essen this morning. The most important item on the agenda of the meeting of creditors is the vote on the insolvency plan drawn up by the company’s management.
Creditors must waive billions in claims
According to media reports, in its insolvency plan, the company’s management is asking owners, suppliers and other creditors to waive claims of more than one billion euros. That’s how you want to give the group a fresh start. In addition, 47 of the last 129 department stores will be closed and thousands of jobs eliminated as part of the renovation.
Despite all the difficulties, the acceptance of the insolvency plan is considered probable. Because in this way creditors can expect to get at least a small part of their money back. If the insolvency plan is rejected, on the other hand, according to insolvency experts, there is a threat of an end to the group and possibly a total loss of accounts receivable.
Ver.di is pushing for the rescue
Immediately before the meeting of creditors, the ver.di union called on all those responsible to give the department store and its employees a future. “There is a lot of potential. The new administration must use this, also and above all in the interest of the employees,” said Stefanie Nutzberger, member of the ver.di federal board of the dpa news agency. It’s about people, livelihoods and jobs. “The Gallery and the owner have a social responsibility for them.”
Nutzberger emphasized: “The Gallery has a future if the employees are brought along: A digital stationary department store of the future needs your experience, your qualifications, your soft skills in dealing with customers. We expect all those responsible to act with this spirit “. She reiterated that the union will fight for all jobs.
Federal Employment Agency warns of future viability
According to a report in “Handelsblatt”, the Federal Employment Agency (BA) is making its support conditional on the restructuring of the insolvent department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof. “It is important that there is a future concept for the business model,” said BA board member Daniel Terzenbach of the paper. Just “keep it up” isn’t enough, he also noted ahead of the planned creditors’ meeting.
Along with the Economic Stabilization Fund, banks and landlords, BA is one of the Gallery’s main creditors. According to the insolvency plan, cited by “Handelsblatt”, the authority paid 96.8 million euros in insolvency money.
However, Terzenbach sees good opportunities for employees affected by the closure. The employment agency has already conducted consultation hours at individual agencies and is planning so-called digital meeting rooms with companies that can offer new career prospects. However, the Gallery must “also invest in employees who remain in the company so that in a few years we will not have the same problems again”, warned the management of BA.
Tough times for the Galeria group
Late last year, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof sought rescue in a protective shield procedure for the second time in three years. The group cited the fallout from the corona pandemic and the war in Ukraine as reasons for this.
A first protective shield procedure, started in 2020 during the first corona lockdown, brought only temporary relief to the company, despite the closure of around 40 branches, the loss of around 4,000 jobs and the cancellation of over two billion euros in debt.
Meeting of Creditors of the Karstadt Kaufhof Gallery
Denise Friese, WDR, 3/27/2023 9:17 am