08.16.14, 04:06
Austrian René Benko pays symbolic price for the department store chain. The 37-year-old multimillionaire has a criminal record
From Bob Geisler
food / Vienna / Hamburg. The Austrians René Benko as “dazzling” to describe attacks a little short. Out of nowhere, the former school dropouts built a real estate empire. Companions of today 37-year-olds like to tell how he two attics in his hometown Vienna goal for the beginning of his career to Luxuspenthäusern, then sent surrounded by large donors and their agents with banks bought from their ceremonial houses. He pitted and let it install Nobel shops. The whole area he called immodest as the “golden quarter”.
Not always worked Benko, whose personal fortune is estimated at 850 million euros in its rise with clean agents. It was not until earlier this week confirmed Austria’s highest court a one-year suspended sentence against the real estate tycoon. He had tried to positively influence a control method against his group Signa and it made a middleman a success fee of 150,000 euros in view.
But from such setbacks can Benko not stop. On Friday, he brought the most spectacular deal of his career in the bag: He is the one who now determines the further fate in the venerable department store chain Karstadt. The investor will take over the ailing group with its 83 branches at the beginning of next week from the previous owner Nicolas Berggruen, shared Benko’s Signa Holding and Berggruen on Friday.
The purchase price that the two men have agreed to the company with its still 17,000 employees, is a real bargain: He is just a symbolic euro. Benko is at Karstadt no means a stranger. Already last year, the Austrians had secured a majority stake in Karstadt Sports branches, as well as on the so-called Premium Group, in the Hamburg Alster House, KaDeWe in Berlin and the Oberpollinger in Munich are summarized.
In addition, the Signa Holding are already plenty of real estate, in which there are the Karstadt stores. Next to the building of the house are the Alster in Hamburg, the houses in Bergedorf and Harburg. In total, there are seven pure Karstadt locations in Hamburg, as well as three sports stores and premium branch at Jungfernstieg.
The current deal now provides that the previous owner Berggruen not only adopted by the 83 Karstadt stores, but also of its remaining minority interest in the sport and Nobel stores. For a man throws in the towel, which was still celebrated in his introduction to the chain in 2010, as a great savior, but then all the expectations that put workers in him disappointed. Whether the promised fate in the tariff binding, sticking to the group as a whole or additional investments: Nothing has been implemented. Instead of investing, Berggruen even drew 40 million euros annually from the lurching companies for the use of the rights to the brand Karstadt out.
The last low blow was the already troubled employees missed on disposal of the popular boss Eva-Lotta Sjöstedt, who resigned after just five months because they could not get support for their new concept which provided for increased regionalization of the chain. In addition, Sjöstedt probably already knew, at its disposal, that Berggruen Karstadt would pass on to real estate tycoon Benko. A view that she agreed obviously not just confident.
Whether it is better under the new ownership, may therefore be at least doubted. What exactly is planning the Austrians with the department stores, he left on Friday once open. Signa would now “focus redevelopment and the future viability of Karstadt” on the announced tungsten wedge, CEO of Signa Retail GmbH to. The company had to “get out of the media and the grueling public discussion,” said the manager, who is responsible for the Austrians for the retail store. “That’s why we do not operate water level reporting in the near future, but concentrate within the company exclusively on the factual issues.”
The union Verdi Signa asked, as soon as possible present sustainable future concept for the chain. “Mr. Benko have to say, what he’s up with Karstadt”, the Hamburger Department Head Arno Peukes told the Evening Journal, who also sits on the board of the company. “What we need is security for jobs and for the sites.” Developed by ex-boss Sjöstedt model, which provided a greater independence of the branches, he described as quite viable. The previous owner Berggruen crying loudly Peukes “safe barely an employee even after a tear. He has promised much and kept nothing.”
could under the new owner However, it soon result in severe cuts in Karstadt. The Chairman of the company, Stephan Fanderl had made more than 20 unprofitable stores for disposition weeks ago.
As René Benko so far mainly with real estate and development has been addressed by shopping centers, he could also be trying to turn the attractive, well-frequented houses in Shopping Center and pass the rather unattractive locations to other investors. In the profile of the investor certainly fits a representative object as Karstadt to Moenckebergstraße rather than distributed over two locations branch in Bergedorf. The houses there are very long in the tooth, in which one is it even an old building of the long-vanished from the market chain Hertie.
On the other hand, could Benko take a new approach in order to forge now required by many trade experts department store Karstadt AG and its rival Kaufhof. The idea of such an alliance is not new, in the past had Benko and also the outgoing Karstadt owner Berggruen is trying to get access to the Kaufhof. Discussions with its parent company, Metro did not lead to success: Metro CEO Olaf Koch had set the sales process for the Kaufhof after taking office in January 2012 on ice. Metro wanted to speculation about Kaufhof and Karstadt on Friday not comment further,
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