KaDeWe Catches Eye of Acquisitive Retailers

One of Europe’s largest flagship department stores, KaDeWe in Berlin, has caught the eye of acquisitive retailers continents apart. Richard Baker’s Hudson’s Bay Co., the Selfridges Group owned by Galen Weston, China’s Sanpower Group, and Qatari investors are said to be among the parties interested in acquiring the store, although it’s unclear whether the KaDeWe flagship and the rest of the premium group owned by Karstadt are for sale. The three-store premium group includes the KaDeWe Berlin flagship, Alsterhaus in Hamburg and Öberpollinger in Munich. KaDeWe and Alsterhaus are said to be performing well, while Öberpollinger is considered oversized and underperforming. The KaDeWe Group is part of the struggling Karstadt chain, which operates 83 midmarket Karstadt department stores and 28 Karstadt Sports stores across Germany. In August, Karstadt was bought by Signa, the Austrian real estate company and investor, which acquired it from Nicolas Berggruen. The Karstadt chain has been struggling for more than a decade and attempts to revamp and reposition it have borne little fruit. KaDeWe and Signa executives declined to comment on a potential sale. According to reports out of Germany this week, there was a crisis meeting of senior management recently, with major cut-backs apparently in the works, and the union

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