Thais take over Berlin luxury department store KaDeWe

Thais take over Berlin luxury department store KaDeWe

The Berlin luxury department store KaDeWe is changing completely into Thai hands, as the Central Group from Thailand has completely acquired the property of the Berlin luxury department store from the insolvent Signa Prime Selection. The Central Group is also being discussed as a possible candidate for the complete takeover of the KaDeWe Group, which operates the department store business in the renowned property on Tauentzienstrasse. Currently, 50.1 percent of the KaDeWe Group belongs to the Central Group and 49.9 percent to the Signa Group. Central managing director Tos Chirathivat was pleased to add KaDeWe to the portfolio of traditional flagship luxury properties.

The Central Group is in discussions with the management of the KaDeWe Group and the creditors in order to establish itself as the new owner of the Berlin property and initiate an orderly exit from the insolvency proceedings. In addition to the KaDeWe in Berlin, the KaDeWe group also includes the Oberpollinger in Munich and the Alsterhaus in Hamburg. At the end of January, the group filed for self-administration bankruptcy, but business operations continue. The KaDeWe was opened in 1907 and has 60,000 square meters of shopping space in the capital. After years of renovations, the Galeries Lafayette is leaving Berlin this summer, which means that KaDeWe will have one less luxury competitor in the capital in the future.