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Central Group took control of Swiss luxury department store chain Globus from Rene Benko’s insolvent Signa group, the latest transfer from the Austrian financier’s retail unit to the Thai conglomerate.
The deal, announced on Monday, covers only the company operating the stores and doesn’t change the ownership of the respective buildings, which occupy prime locations in the commercial areas of Switzerland’s main cities. Central didn’t disclose financial details of the agreement.
The Thai group has already taken over control of companies operating London’s Selfridges and the KaDeWe in Berlin from Signa, adding to a portfolio of luxury department stores in Italy and Denmark.
Separately, Signa’s main property unit and Central share ownership of five Globus buildings. Central has shown interest in taking over the store in Zurich, Signa Prime’s insolvency administrator said in a report dated July.
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Globus’s Swiss properties were valued at €1.3 billion ($1.5 billion) at the end of 2022, but a re-evaluation carried out in December 2023 after the opening of insolvency proceedings estimates their value at only €892 million, the Sonntagszeitung newspaper reported in March.
As a result of Monday’s accord, Central will now own all seven Globus stores, including the flagship on Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse, as well as two sites that are currently under renovation in Zurich and Basel.
By Alessandro Speciale
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