Was Kika/Leiner bankrupt before, has the sale of Benko harmed the masses? An expert will now clarify.
The insolvency court has now appointed a “special administrator” in the Kika/Leiner case: the lawyer and expert Stephan Riel (experienced, for example, with the bankruptcy of the Alpine construction group) may only investigate those processes that happened before the sale to Hermann Wieser .
It’s all about the role Benko’s Signa played as the previous owner. Since the furniture chain has been making a loss for years, it is rumored that bankruptcy should have been filed earlier. The merger of the GmbHs of Kika and Leiner is being investigated.
The question of whether the tax deferral was necessary and why Signa collected a “management fee” of 500,000 euros from Kika/Leiner must also be clarified. Riel is also responsible for “investigating the causes of the financial collapse”. In any case, a result must be on the table before a decision is made on whether or not to continue the chain.
1096 employees applied for termination
Meanwhile, 1096 employees from branches that will become redundant have been informed of their dismissal from the AMS. Other people affected from logistics and administration will follow at the end of September, the number remains unclear.
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.
