Fateful day for financial juggler Rene Benko and his insolvent German department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof: At the creditors’ meeting of the German Federal Employment Office (BA), scheduled for today, Monday, the latter will link their support for the restructuring to difficult circumstances.
“It is important that there is a future concept for the business model,” says BA board member Daniel Terzenbach. Just “keep it up” is not enough, Terzenbach stressed ahead of the group’s insolvency plan meeting.
The ailing department store chain recently announced it would close 52 of its 129 stores. Later agreement was reached to continue five locations – the reason was a concession from the respective landlords.
Together with the Economic Stabilization Fund, banks and landlords, the BA is one of Galeria’s main creditors. According to the insolvency plan, from which it quoted “Handelsblatt”, the authority paid 96.8 million euros in insolvency money.
Employment agency sees good opportunities for affected employees
Terzenbach sees good opportunities for the employees affected by the closure. The German employment agency already held office hours in individual branches and is planning so-called digital meeting rooms with companies that can offer new professional perspectives. However, Galeria “must also invest in the employees who stay with the company so that we don’t have to deal with the same problems again in a few years,” the BA board warned.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
