After Lufthansa and Tui, now Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof: Another large company is to be supported with state aid.
It is also about the location of the city centers.
After
Lufthansa and Tui
, the next German group is in distress in the Corona crisis.
The federal government
now
wants to give
Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof a helping hand
with up to 460 million euros
.
However, the offer is tied to strict conditions and legal requirements.
Berlin / Essen - The federal government wants to support the ailing
department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof
according to information from the German press agency.
This involves a stabilization measure in the form of a loan of up to
460 million euros
, as the Committee of the Economic
Stabilization Fund
decided on Wednesday.
The offer of help is now before the company for a decision.
Representatives of several ministries sit on the committee.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Finance
* had previously
agreed
on the
stabilization
measure, as it was said.
Specifically, it is about a so-called subordinated loan.
The aid measure is
linked
to
extensive requirements and legal requirements
.
Merkel's government steps in: This is how jobs at Galeria Kaufhof are to be secured
The
Federal Government
*
wants to make an important contribution with the support
to secure jobs
and to bridge the current difficult situation for the company.
From their point of view, department stores also have an important anchor function for the
stabilization of inner cities as
a whole.
Angela Merkel's
* government founded the
Economic
Stabilization
Fund
(WSF) in March 2020
to support large companies with guarantees and capital aid
during the
Corona crisis
and to preserve jobs.
For example, a billion dollar
rescue package for Lufthansa
and
aid for the travel company Tui have
already been agreed
.
Corona crisis in Germany threatens to drive Galeria Kaufhof into ruin
The Corona crisis had hit the already ailing department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof hard.
During the
first lockdown in April of
last year
, the group had to seek rescue in a protective shield procedure.
Only at the end of September did he complete the bankruptcy proceedings.
It was supposed to
enable
the last remaining German department store group to make
a new start
by
closing more than 40 branches
,
cutting around 4,000 jobs
and canceling more than two billion euros in debt.
Group boss Miguel Müllenbach
wrote in a letter to the employees at the time that Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof was back on the field and would turn the table of successful retailers upside down in the coming weeks and months.
Corona lockdown in Germany: Galeria Kaufhof as an important factor for city centers
But the
second lockdown
probably thwarted the plan.
The group itself is keeping a low profile when it comes to the current situation.
But the GKK general works council chairman Jürgen Ettl only warned a few days ago in an interview with the “Lebensmittel Zeitung”: “
Currently the fixed costs are consuming the reserves
.
It's easy to calculate
how long we would survive a lockdown. "
The trading giant still has almost
130 department stores
.
In many inner cities they are considered
indispensable crowd pullers
, the closing of which would also make many surrounding shops difficult.
In the video: Not only the German department store is facing problems - many companies are fighting the Corona crisis
Many other companies in Germany are also suffering massively from the economic effects of the Corona crisis.
(dpa) * Merkur.de is part of the Ippen digital network.