Central Group takes over the business completely

An official announcement is still pending. But as the NZZ was able to find out from reliable sources, the contracts for the future of Globus have been finalized: the Thai Central Group of the Chirathivat family is taking over the entire operational business of the Swiss department store chain. The Chirathivats already owned 50 percent of Globus, the rest was held by René Benko’s Signa Group. Since the Signa Group is now insolvent, this share was up for sale.

This secures the future of Globus as a department store operator.

The future of the Globus properties is still uncertain

What remains unclear, however, is what will happen next with the Globus properties. This involves five properties, which today belong half to Central and Signa: in Zurich, the well-known Globus department store near Bahnhofstrasse and a neighboring office building. In Bern the Globus branch including an adjacent hotel. In Basel, Freie Strasse 50, where the temporary Globus is now located, as well as the building on the market square, which is currently being rebuilt and, according to previous Signa brochures, will be the most beautiful department store in Switzerland.

These properties are housed in separate companies and are also sold separately.

It is likely that Central will take over the entire department store building in Zurich. In the fourth report prepared in July by the restructuring manager of Benko’s real estate company Signa Prime, it was said that the Thais had registered their interest in this property. Not only is it the most valuable and strategically important of the five properties; Central, together with the Signa Group, has also invested a lot of money in the renovation over the past four years.

 

The Chirathivats, together with Signa Prime’s restructuring manager, could sell the other properties to third parties. In order to operate the department stores, Central does not have to own the properties. A long-term rental agreement is sufficient. Globus is already not the owner of the majority of locations, but rather a tenant.

Now all that’s missing is Selfridges

There won’t be much money involved in taking over Globus’ operational business. The most valuable thing about the department store group is the real estate. That was already the case five years ago, when Central and Signa bought the Globus from Migros. According to insiders, of the billion that was paid at the time, only a small to mid-single-digit million amount was attributable to operational business.

With the sale of Globus’ operating business, the exploitation of the Signa Group’s luxury department store business is one step further. The KaDeWe department store group in Germany, which, in addition to the KaDeWe in Berlin, also includes the Alsterhaus in Hamburg and the Oberpollinger in Munich, took over Central in June because there was separate insolvency proceedings there. Now all that’s missing is the British department store group Selfridges.