DUESSELDORF, Germany - Thailand’s Central Group has bought the landmark KaDeWe department store property in Germany from the insolvent Austrian company Signa Group, two industry sources told Reuters on Friday.
Central could also take over the entire KaDeWe Group, which includes Alsterhaus in Hamburg and Oberpollinger in Munich.
The Thai retailer already holds a 50.1% majority stake in the group.
Central and the insolvent Signa Prime, which owns shares in the luxury department stores, declined to comment.
The purchase price for the building, a landmark tourist destination in Berlin, was reported by the German business daily Handelsblatt to be roughly 1 billion euros (38.9 billion baht).
Signa, the property empire founded by the Austrian tycoon Rene Benko, has been one of the biggest casualties of Europe’s real estate crisis, with creditors filing claims worth billions of euros.
The group’s holding company, which sits at the centre of a web of hundreds of firms, has declared insolvency, as have its two most important units, Signa Prime and Signa Development.
German media reports last month said that Central Group wanted to take over more real estate assets from Signa, including Selfridges in London.
Central Group was reported to be in talks with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund about the iconic Selfridges store, according to the Business Insider report.
Central wants to lift its stake in Selfridges to 60% and take control of the operating business, the report said.
Central Group took over Selfridges last November after converting a loan to equity, giving it the majority stake in the joint-venture operating companies within the Selfridges Group.