Globus Group buyers want to renegotiate over Covid-19

At the beginning of February, Migros completed the sales process for its Globus department store group: Bangkok-based Central Group and Austria's Signa Holding are acquiring Globus for a reported purchase price of CHF 1 billion. The deal includes the Swiss magazines to Globus AG and eight associated properties in top city centre locations, which are being sold by the Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund (MGB). At the time, it was said that the signing of the transaction had taken place and that the final acquisition would be completed by mid-2020.

Signa and Central originally intended to turn Globus into a luxury department store and were also counting on wealthy tourists from Asia and the Middle East as a customer group. However, in the course of the global Corona pandemic, the retail markets have been thrown into a tailspin and it is unclear whether the concept can be implemented in this way. According to a report by the NZZ the buyers therefore want to renegotiate with Migros. It is open whether Migros will agree to this, but the cooperative cannot afford to let the deal fall through, according to the report. Therefore, it is quite conceivable that Migros will make concessions to the buyers. A meeting between the parties, however, has not yet taken place, reports the NZZ go on.

The Signa Group is currently experiencing difficulties with Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof in Germany. The department store chain has saved itself in a protective shield procedure. The procedure protects ailing companies from the access of creditors for a limited time without the businesses having to file for insolvency. The Central Group owns, among others, the Italian department store chain La Rinascente, which is also suffering from the Corona pandemic under the lockdown in Italy. (ah)