Migros closes Globus sale
Migros has completed the sale of the Globus department store chain to Signa Group and Central Group. The cooperative rejected media reports about a high discount.
The sale of Globus was supposed to have been finalized by the end of April, but the closing was delayed. According to reports, the buyers, a joint venture of Signa and Central Group, wanted to renegotiate the price because of the Corona pandemic.
According to a report by the financial blog Inside Parade Ground the buyers were successful and instead of the agreed price of one billion CHF they still have to pay 800 million - the discount would thus amount to one fifth of the sum. Migros, meanwhile, stresses that nothing has changed in the contractually agreed and signed sale of Globus. The parties have agreed not to disclose the modalities of the contract.
The NZZ points outMigros could also accommodate the buyers in other ways. It would be conceivable, for example, for Migros to leave existing loans to Globus in place for a certain period of time or to accommodate the buyers in some form of financing.
Under its new owners, Globus is facing a realignment. The new owners, who also own the German KaDeWe Group and the Italian department stores of La Rinascente, want to position Globus in the luxury segment, focusing primarily on the department stores in prime locations, such as Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse and those in Geneva, Bern, Basel and St. Gallen.
What will happen to the smaller and medium-sized stores is currently unclear. The fashion stores - the former men's Globus and Schild stores as well as the Navyboot stores - also do not fit in with this strategy. (ah)
